Love Is A Mystery
by Awesomeness02
Summary: Detectives Kahoko & Azuma, solve various mysteries. Some of them even include the other La Corda characters! However, even if they are the best detectives around, there's always one mystery that will remain unsolved. Love.
1. Death Without A Weapon

**Love Is A Mystery**

Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda d'Oro, but it's one of my favorite Shoujo Anime/Manga :D

Summary: Detectives Kahoko & Azuma, solve various mysteries. Some of them even include the other La Corda characters! However, even if they are the best detectives around, there's always one mystery that will remain unsolved. Love.

Wow, this is my first La Corda d'Oro (Kiniro no Coruda) Fanfiction! Yes, I finally got round to it. This Fanfiction is a **MYSTERY** and **ROMANCE** fanfiction, so if you don't like mystery, detective, crimes, and stuff like that, I suggest you don't read this ^-^  
I apologize is my writing is bad, or if I can't get the personalities perfect… But, Kahoko is meant to be somewhat, stronger and smarter, and more professional in this, so please excuse some OOCness TT^TT

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 1: Death Without A Weapon**

-Part 1-

_~Broken shards…shattered on the surface, one stole a life with blood…dripping down into the pool of red~_

_A strange hooded figure rushed through the stormy night, while a rich man finished up the last of his paperwork. The rich man turned off the glowing lights, about to head out of the office room. But then, he heard a crash, which caused him to stop. He turned, wondering what caused the noise. The window was broken to bits. Someone had broken into his office. "W-Who's there?" he asked, with fear in his voice. No reply came. An unknown hooded figure in a trench coat stepped out of the shadows. The rich man was trembling to bits; he fell on the floor, trying to crawl away from the mysterious person. The frightened man grabbed a knife, threatening to hurt the dark figure. Cold winds blew through the gap that was once a window, rain fell on the roof and thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed and the room lighted up for a mere second. The man with the knife gasped. "You-you're…!" The hooded figure took a couple of steps closer. "W-What are you-" A blood curdling scream filled the night. The hooded figure rushed through the stormy night once again, disappearing into the distant darkness._

•

A certain detective with crimson red hair, sat at her ebony black polished desk, and it was neatly organized. Across the desk was another seat, it was a light grey, and it looked very comfortable. The office room was a simple room with very nice furniture. In the center of the office, was a low rich brown table, with dark leather couches on two sides. Next to the plain door was a lush plant with a flower about to bloom. Behind the young detective was a big window that looked over the bustling city. On the right side of the desk was a silver safe that was connected to the wall. Every detective's office has a safe for storing evidence in. On the left side of the desk was a book shelf, it had a whole lot of different books that could sometimes help with cases. The redhead detective sighed at the ever-lasting paperwork on her desk.

_My name is Hino Kahoko, and I'm one of the best Detectives around. I have solved every case successfully so far…and I plan to keep it that way. There are only three problems in my life. One, the paperwork that never ends. Two, my rent that I still need to pay off for my apartment room. And Three, Him…_

There was a knock on Kahoko's office door, and a voice followed after. "Detective Hino?"

Kahoko ignored the knock, and murmured to herself, "I'm glad that I was finally moved up to one of the 'Higher-Up' office rooms, but…why did my office have to be directly across HIS office?!"

The person behind the door, opened it anyways, and took a step in. The ravishing purple-haired prince smiled at her. "Detective Hino, it seems you're doing a lot of paperwork today."

She frowned. "I never recall giving you permission to enter my office."

He walked over to the dark leather couches, and sat down gracefully. "I don't need your permission to enter here, remember?"

"…Could you please leave? I'm busy. See? Look at all this paperwork." She pointed at the piles of thin paper.

He smirked. "And if I don't?"

She ignored that. "Why are you in here anyway?"

He chuckled. "I've got a case for you."

"A case? For me?" she blinked. He never bought her cases.

"Yes. A runaway dog sound good to you?"

She gave him a flat-out answer straight away. "No."

"Why not? I think it suits you quite well. After all, you do rather resemble a dog."

She mumbled quietly, "In your eyes."

"Still a 'no'?"

She pointed to the door. "The door is over there. I think it's waiting for you to go through it."

"Hm…well-"

The door suddenly burst open. "Detective Hino! A new case has come up!"

She stood up. "What is it?"

"A homicide, Ma'am."

"…" her frown finally turned upside down. "I'll take it."_ Perfect timing! Just when I was running low on money!_

Azuma got up from the couch, and walked towards the door. "Well, it seems you've finally got yourself a case. I wish you good luck."

She cringed. "Right…"

The messenger guy left, seeing as how the two top detectives were conversing with each other.

Azuma was about to walk out, but then he turned, and smirked. "Too bad you didn't take up that dog case."

The door shut.

Kahoko could feel her blood boiling. _Just you wait, Yunoki! Soon, I'll be the one looking down on you!_

•

The famous redhead detective, walked past the 'DO NOT ENTER' warning signs, as her beige coat flapped in the wind.

Hino nodded to one of the officers. "What happened here?"

"The victim was Konsaki Yahiro. Age 57. He died in his office."

Kahoko continued walking forward. "Konsaki? Isn't that one of the richest men in Japan?"

The officer nodded. "Yes. His mansion is just up ahead."

She fastened her pace. "This case may be easier than expected."

•

**Konsaki Office…**

The body of Konsaki Yahiro, was leaning against the wall, with blood scraped onto the wallpaper. Although, the corpse was sitting down. In his right hand, he held a knife loosely; his blood was covered in it. There were broken pieces of glass everywhere. The window was shattered, and the winds blew the papers from his desk, on to the ground. Forensics were scattered around the room, searching for fingerprints, looking for traces, taking blood samples, everything, Kahoko raised an eyebrow. There wasn't much evidence here. She walked over to the body.

"Has an autopsy report been made yet?"

The officer, who followed her, handed a folder to her. She took out the papers inside it, and read it aloud to herself. "Murdered at 1:07 AM, body discovered by a maid-Miss Suzuki, at 6:00 AM when she arrived at the mansion, murder weapon believed to be a knife, possibly the one the victim is holding. A stab to the chest, piercing through the heart. An instant death."

Kahoko looked over at the body, "Well, it definitely wasn't a suicide." She walked over, and picked up the corpse's hand.

"Detective, I don't think touching the body is a wise idea! The forensics-"

She held up one gloved hand, which shut the officer up. Mainly because he saw that she was wearing gloves, which means she wouldn't be tampering the evidence around too much.

Hino looked at the stab wound, and then looked at the wall covered in blood. Her gloved hand touched the blood. It was dry, and flaky.

She looked at the forensic scientists. "Can you move the body?"

"Why would you want the victim's body to be moved?" questioned one.

"I just want to check something." She replied.

They reluctantly moved the body. In the spot, where the body once was, was nothing, but a pool of blood. The redheaded detective kneeled down, and carefully observed the pool of blood.

The forensics began to whisper to each other. "What is she doing?" "It looks like she's just beating around the bush!" "Is she even a real detective?"

Kahoko smirked, as she found a piece of paper pressed to the wall. She grabbed it, and looked at it. It was about the size of her palm, and it had some spots of blood on it. In red, a name was written. 'Suzuki Reiko'

Hino looked at the officers. "Bring Suzuki Reiko down to the Detention Centre. It seems we've got a few questions to ask her."

"Of course, Detective Hino."

She looked back at the paper with the girl's name on it. Written in blood… "Forensics, please find out whose blood is on this paper." She handed them the paper, and headed back to the car.

•

"Your name was written on a piece of paper, did you know that?" asked Kahoko, calmly.

Suzuki Reiko was a petite girl, with dark orange hair, and amber eyes. She was quite a shy girl, and was very kind. "N-No, I don't know anything…"

"Tell me how you discovered the body."

The young girl nodded. "I was walking to the mansion, and got there at the usual time, six o'clock. I put on my uniform, and walked up the stairs to my master's room. But I saw he wasn't there. I continued to search for him, room by room, and eventually came across the office. The door was closed, and when I opened it…I saw scattered papers on the ground, and well…him. He was just sitting there, all bloody. I panicked, and ran out, and then quickly called the police."

"Not the ambulance?" Kahoko raised an eyebrow.

Reiko blinked. "What good is calling an ambulance, if he's already dead?"

"You didn't exactly check his pulse or anything. So, how did you know he was already dead?"

"I…I just assumed…"

"You might've as well called a hearse." Kahoko muttered quietly. "Anyways, back to the questions. What did you do while you were waiting for the police?"

"I sat at the door step, crying, and worrying."

_That's funny, you seem completely fine now._ "Ok…and how long did it take for them to arrive?"

"Ten to fifteen minutes."

"Did Mr. Konsaki have many enemies?"

"He had a few, but they were all just rivals in business. Nothing major, or to the point of wanting to kill each other."

Kahoko leaned in. "Tell me, Suzuki. What's your alibi?"

"Eh? Detective Hino…are you suspecting that maybe I'm the murderer?"

"It's my job. And right now, you are one of the top suspects. Now, alibi, please." She replied, bluntly.

"I was sleeping, when Mr. Konsaki was killed. Like any other normal person. Who wouldn't be asleep by 1:00 AM?"

_Actually…I wasn't asleep at 1:00 AM, because of all the paperwork…does that make me abnormal? _"…And your motive?"

Reiko exclaimed, "I wouldn't dare lay a finger on Mr. Konsaki! Why would I kill the one who pays me?"

"Because he didn't give you a pay rise?" the detective guessed.

"I don't mind if I don't get a pay rise, the pay is already pretty good…"

Kahoko sighed. _Looks like she has nothing more to say to me._

•

Kahoko looked at the bloody paper inside the small translucent bag. "So, it turned out it was the victim's blood after all…" She put the piece of evidence onto her polished desk, and leaned back in her comfy chair. She looked around her office, absent mindedly. "If it was the victim's blood on the paper, then obviously, the victim must've written the name before he died. Obviously, it gives a big hint out to who the killer is. Everyone suspects Suzuki Reiko. However…" She looked at the autopsy report. "I know the truth."

•

Azuma casually walked down the Detective Department corridors. As always, with that smile on his face. As always, the fellow girl officers, or lower ranked female detectives would scream, or faint. That's when a question came to his head. Every girl who saw him would be head over heels in love with him. So, why was it that the simplest girl ever, wouldn't fall madly in love with him at first glance?

He shook the thought away, he had business to do. Serious business. Maybe not that serious, but serious enough. Business like finding out what Hino Kahoko was doing at the moment. Would you call that serious business, or just plain stalking?

"Excuse me, do you know where Miss Hino is?" asked the ravishing prince, with a charming smile.

A fellow officer replied, "I believe Miss Hino is in her office. If not, she's most likely at the investigation site."

"Ah, I see. Thank you." He headed towards her office.

The officer talked to another person. "It seems Mr. Yunoki is getting quite attached to Miss Hino, these days, huh?"

The other male nodded. "Yeah. Maybe they have something going on?"

All the girl officers and girl detectives glared at the two talkers. "Something going on? Yunoki-Sama, and HER?!" They all thought the same thing: _…RIVALS!_

•

"Hino?" Yunoki knocked on the door again.

"Don't come in here, I'm busy." came the reply.

He opened the door. "That's what you always say. I have a feeling you keep trying to avoid me."

"No, I seriously am busy." said the female detective, while scanning through different files.

He stood behind her, and whispered in her ear, "What are you looking at, _Kahoko_?"

She flinched, and quickly tried to move away from him. "I-Important files relating to the case!"

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, and took a peek. It was just the autopsy and some evidence.

She turned her back on him. "Anyways, I've got things to do!" she started to organize the documents on her desk.

Azuma closed the gap between them. His body pressed against her back, his lips next to her ear. He was close, way too close to Kahoko.

"C-Could you please m-move…?" she stuttered, feeling her face start to redden. _Ugh! Stop stuttering! Why are you blushing?!_

He smiled. "Sorry, no can do." His breath tickled her ears.

She felt shivers crawl up her spine.

His hands slowly went over hers. "_Kahoko_…you know…"

She quickly pushed him away, and stood on the other side of her desk. She shouted at him with a flushed face. "D-DON'T YOU EVER COME THAT CLOSE TO ME AGAIN!" And with that, she ran out of her office, leaving him there.

He chuckled. "My, my. You never change."

•

Kahoko stomped through the Detective Department, trying to forget about what just happened, and focus on the case. "Geez, that guy! Who does he think he is?! Coming into my office, as if it was his own!"

"Hm? What guy?" asked a voice behind her.

She whirled around. _Did I say that out loud?!_ She saw a tall man, with long hair, tied back in a ponytail. His hair color was a unique mixture of a sort of pink and bronze.

"M-Mr. Kanazawa!" Kahoko blinked in surprise. _Since when does the Head of the Detective Department eavesdrop on fellow workers?_

"That's me." He nodded. _Kanazawa Hiroto, is a very successful Detective, and was recently promoted to become the Head of the Detective Department, which is where I work. Only the Boss of Detectives can be named the Top Detective of all. He can normally be found smoking a cigarette in his office, or outside. His office is on the highest floor of this tall building. The higher you are, the better your rank. I'm on the second highest floor! This man is truly someone to look up to. He makes wise decisions, and thinks through things carefully. Too bad he gets lazy pretty fast._

He tilted his head to the side. "So, what guy?"

Kahoko fake smiled. "Oh, it's nothing really! No need to worry!"

He shrugged. "If you say so." He walked pass her. "Remember, if you've got any issues, then feel free to drop by my office."

_Even if the issue is about the guy across my office…? _"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."

•

Kahoko shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, as she walked back to the mansion of death. While she was walking pass other investigating officers, some asked her questions, or told her small things about the case.

The female detective turned to one of the officers. "Were there any other witnesses or people relevant to the case?"

An officer nodded. "A few maids who also worked for the victim."

"Where are they at the moment?"

"Inside the mansion, crying and worrying."

"About their master's death?" questioned Kahoko.

"No. About their future jobs."

"..." She decided to pay them a small visit anyways.

•

"What should we do?! Our careers as maids are over! And we won't get good pay such as this, ever again…!" panicked one maid.

"Oh no! You're right!"

Hino sighed. _These maids were never going to shut up about their precious little jobs._

"Excuse me." She walked up to them

The maids looked at her. "W-Who are you?"

She held up her ID card. "Detective Hino Kahoko, currently in charge of this case. Now, I'm going to ask questions and you three will answer them in peace."

They nodded.

"Where were you when the incident happened?"

The three all replied, "Sleeping at home. Like any normal person would be."

…_That same reply again._ "Ok…and what's your reason for not killing Mr. Konsaki?"

"I loved him to bits! He was rich, and he supplied us with what we needed!" answered one.

"He was a sweet and hardworking man. I admired him."

"I was obsessed with him. I loved the way he walked, and how he-"

Kahoko cut her off. "Anyways! Who do you three suspect killed him?"

They all were silent for a moment.

One of them said, "It's definitely Miss Suzuki! I can't think of anyone else. Not to mention, she was the first to arrive out of all of us."

Another replied, "Some random who wanted Mr. Konsaki's money."

The third had absolutely no idea. "I don't know. I just want a good paying job."

Hino ignored the last two replies. "Why would you suspect Miss Suzuki?"

"She only started working here a week ago. She's the newest out of the rest of us maids."

"And is that it?"

She shrugged. "I guess so."

"Were there any strange actions before his death?"

They all shook their heads.

_Guess I'm not going to be getting any other information out of them._

•

She sighed. Hino already had a good idea of who the killer could be, but there was no way to actually prove it. Hino decided to take a small break, and take a walk through the city.

While she was window shopping, she bumped into someone by accident. "Ah, I'm so sorry!"

She bumped into a man, one who looked like he was in his thirties. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking."

Kahoko just nodded, and was about to make her way off, but then the man said, "Hope you don't mind me asking, but are you a detective?"

"…Indeed I am. Why?" she shot back.

"I just heard that a female detective was working on a case. Something like an incident at the Konsaki's."

She turned to face him sharply. _Who was this guy?_ "That's interesting. I haven't heard of anything like that."

"Oh, dear me, I must have the wrong detective then."

_Why on earth is the man searching for me?_ "Is that so? Since I'm also in the Detective Department, would you like me to help you find her?"

"Yes! That would be very much appreciated." Replied the man, gratefully.

"It's no problem at all. What's her description? And what business do you have with her? And may I ask what your name is?"

"I'm Wakabe Taika. The detective resembled you quite a lot; she has red hair, and normally wears a beige coat." He paused before continuing. "My business with her? I just wanted to ask her to help me work something out."

"Something out?" Now, she was getting curious. Her description was definitely Hino Kahoko.

Kahoko kept her eyes on him. He had short jet black hair, and a non-shaved beard. He didn't look like a rich man, and he seemed like a normal citizen.

"Yes, you see, I have an acquaintance, who works under Mr. Konsaki. Unfortunately, she has been in the Detention Centre for a while now, and she has some other things to attend to later, this afternoon. I was hoping she would be let out, so I tried to find the detective in charge of the case. Unfortunately, when I dropped by the Detective Department, she was out."

_Acquaintance? He must mean Suzuki Reiko. I better not press him any further, or he may start to raise his suspicions._ "Well, I heard from some police officer's that she went to grab a bite at the café around the block. Shall we head there now?"

"Why not?"

•

Hino lead the way, and they had arrived in front of the café. "And here we are."

He smiled at her. "Thank you so much. I hope she's here."

She nodded. "Well, I guess I'll be taking my leave now."

Kahoko was about to walk away, when he suddenly grabbed her arm, and twisted it. Kahoko gritted her teeth in pain.

"Do you take me as a fool? You're obviously the detective I was looking for." His grip tightened.

She winced. "And you still told me the information."

"Oh please, all of that was a bunch of lies. No wonder detectives like you never make is successfully in business. You always will believe anything you're told!"

She forced a grin. "Lies can sometimes get people somewhere. Perhaps the name 'Wakabe Taika' was also just a fake?"

The man twisted her arm more. "Don't try to act tough, I know that you're actually screaming on the inside." He smirked, and pushed her into a nearby alleyway. "This is the perfect opportunity to kill you!"

"Now, why would you want to kill me?" she sweated a bit. She hadn't brought her gun with her today.

"No more questions, now DIE!" he grabbed out a pocket knife, and lunged at her.

She moved to the side, to dodge. She may not have her gun with her, but at least she knew some self-defense. She stuck her foot in front, and he clumsily tripped over it. She took the chance, to elbow his back. After he fell to his knees, she brought a kick to his head, causing him to feel dizzy. Hino knew that she couldn't take him on by herself, so she quickly took this opportunity to flee.

Hino ran as fast as she could, back to the Detective Department, clutching her injured arm.

The doors of the Detective Department swung open, as the redhead detective bolted in. She fast walked up to the technical research area, and slammed her right hand on the desk. "I need you to search up a name for me, right now!"

They blinked. "Er…Yes, Ma'am. Name?"

"Wakabe Taika." She panted.

Seconds passed, until the person behind the computer spoke, "We've found one match."

Kahoko quickly went behind the person, to gaze at the screen. _So, not all of it was a lie!_ "Let me see his picture!"

The picture was exactly the same as the man she saw. She nodded, and ordered, "Please print his profile out for me. I'll be in my office."

Hino walked to the elevator.

•

After she had wrapped her left arm in bandages, she sat at her desk, thinking through things. "Wakabe must be related to the case, how else would he know about it? He must have some sort of connection with Suzuki as well. Now…what am I missing? I have a feeling I'm overlooking things." She rubbed her temples, as she tried to remember. "The paper with the name on it…the murder weapon…Mr. Konsaki…" The words 'He was rich' rang in her head. She paused. Rich men would normally keep business related things in their office. And most of the time, a safe place where they would keep the money, would also be in the office, where they spend the most time there.

"_Time to visit the mansion again…"_

•

"Just as I thought!" Kahoko looked at the empty safe, in Mr. Konsaki's office_. Someone had forced open the lock. Typical place to hide a safe, behind a piece of art on the wall. So, someone obviously stole the money inside the safe. The reason for killing was only for money, perhaps?_

"Miss Hino! The profile you requested has arrived!" a fellow officer handed her the papers.

She nodded her thanks, and skimmed through it. Something caught her eye. "Interesting…"

•

"Now, Miss Suzuki, you better tell me the truth this time." Kahoko threw the papers down, onto the cheap table before her.

Suzuki looked up at her, innocently. "What could you possibly mean, Miss Hino?"

Kahoko folded her arms. "A man, named Wakabe Taika."

"I don't understand…"

Kahoko fell onto the chair. "He knows you. An acquaintance. I don't see why you wouldn't know him, if he knew you."

She tilted her head to the side. "It must be some sort of misunderstanding."

Kahoko was getting sick of her lies. She leaned onto the desk, and looked at Reiko, straight in the eyes. "Suzuki Reiko, if you answer these simple questions, I can release you from this horrid place, and you can make it to your afternoon appointment, what do you say?"

This immediately caught her attention. "!"

"I'm waiting."

"How do you know about this afternoon…?"

Kahoko pushed the papers towards her. "Answer me first. What is Wakabe Taika to you?"

She swallowed, hard, before answering. "He's…an acquaintance of mine."

"And?"

"That's it."

"…" Kahoko glanced at the guard, who was in charge of this girl's cell. "Her personal belongings. Thanks."

The guard came back moments later with Reiko's petite bag. Kahoko opened it; not many things inside.

Hino smirked. "Oh, look. Your cellphone." She took out the pink cellphone, and switched it on.

"H-Hey, wait a second! You don't have my permission to touch my personal-"

Kahoko ignored her. "Hey, you got 4 missed calls from…ah, what's this? Well, what do you know, Mr. Wakabe, himself."

"Are you even listen-"

"Ooh, text messages from him as well! Allow me to read them out." She pushed a few more buttons. "_Received: Yesterday, 10:08 PM. We're still going to go with the plan, right?_"

The girl started to pale.

"_Yes, of course. Konsaki's mansion. You'll be doing THAT to him, tonight. And I'll be there in the morning._" She continued to read.

Reiko was gripping her chair so tightly, her knuckles were turning white.

"_Received: Today, 1:19 AM. Have you finished getting what you wanted?_" Kahoko raised an eyebrow, as she looked over at the nervous girl. "_Reply: Yes. I called the cops. They're on your way. Good job on the killing._"

Kahoko switched the phone off, and narrowed her golden eyes at the vulnerable woman. "_Killing?_ Care to explain all this, Suzuki?"

She was so nervous, she kept stuttering. "I…I…I…"

Kahoko continued rummaging through her bag. "Hm? What's this? A rather heavy object for a little girl like yourself to be carrying around." She held up a bulky hammer.

"T-That's…!"

"Ah! It seems you've got a lot of cash on you, I'm so envious. With this, I could pay off my debts." She pulled out a bank cheque with a lot of big numbers, and zeroes. "What's this?" she looked at the writing closer. "That's funny, since when did Mr. Konsaki sign this for you? The date on it says today. Ha, how impossible, he didn't even live to see today!"

Reiko gulped.

Kahoko smiled angelically at the girl. "Feel like talking now?"

**-End Of Chapter One-**

* * *

Hey hey! Hope you guys enjoyed it~

I'm sorry if it wasn't very good, I'm not that great when it comes to writing mystery fanfictions, but I'll do my best!

Until next time!

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	2. One Murder, Two Thieves

And here's the second chapter!  
I would like to thank the reviewers who reviewed the first chapter, it made me so happy, because I thought no one would read this! Even if it is a small number of reviews, it still put a smile on my face, and encouraged me to write more. So, again, Thank you!

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 1: One Murder, Two Thieves**

-Part 2-

_Previously:_

"_Not the ambulance?" Kahoko raised an eyebrow._

_Reiko blinked. "What good is calling an ambulance, if he's already dead?"_

_Reiko exclaimed, "I wouldn't dare lay a finger on Mr. Konsaki! Why would I kill the one who pays me?"_

"_Because he didn't give you a pay rise?" the detective guessed._

_The three all replied, "Sleeping at home. Like any normal person would be."_

"_Oh please, all of that was a bunch of lies. No wonder detectives like you never make it successfully in business. You always will believe anything you're told!"_

"_Ooh, text messages from him as well! Allow me to read them out." She pushed a few more buttons. "Received: Yesterday, 10:08 PM. We're still going to go with the plan, right?"_

_Kahoko switched the phone off, and narrowed her golden eyes at the vulnerable woman. "Killing? Care to explain all this, Suzuki?"_

_Kahoko smiled angelically at the girl. "Feel like talking now?"_

•

"Hmph, just as I thought." Kahoko slammed the door shut, as she walked through the gates of the mansion.

An officer ran up to her. "Miss Hino, have you figured out the crime yet?!"

She shrugged. "I suppose I have. But not really. There's something I still need to check."

She walked into the dead man's office, and let her golden eyes scan the room. Bits of logic were floating around her head, and she pieced them all together, one by one.

_-First, the one who killed Mr. Konsaki, was Wakabe Taika._

_-Second, Suzuki Reiko used the hammer to break the safe, and steal the contents, which was a cheque with tons of money. Copying his handwriting, she wrote Konsaki's signature._

_-Miss Suzuki was betrayed, without her knowing. The bloody paper with her name on it was written by Mr. Wakabe, but he used the victim's blood to do so._

_Unsolved:_

_-The murder weapon is still unknown_

_-Wakabe's motive._

She stared at the ground, with scattered papers. She recalled Wakabe's profile, and mumbled something aloud, "Wakabe was a successful businessman. He often had queries with Mr. Konsaki…killed out of jealousy? No, that can't be it."

The wind blew through the broken window, and the papers started to dance again. That's when it hit Kahoko. She immediately walked over to the rich man's desk, and opened the drawers. The first drawer was empty, that was where the knife was placed. The second drawer had nothing interesting in it, but the third one did. In there, was a brown folder. She took it out, and saw that there was only one paper there. She looked at it; it was all business-related stuff. Something about, creating a new idea, which equals more money, and such. She looked at the bottom right corner of the paper. '1 pages out of 5.'

Hino felt the corner of her lips move upwards. "It all makes sense now."

•

"AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

The lilac-haired prince smiled. "My my, Detective Hino, there's no need to raise your voice. I'm just simply popping in for a visit."

She glared at him. "That's a lie. This is my case, and there's no way you're taking it away from me!"

"I didn't come here to take your case."

"Then what is it that you want, exactly?" her eyes narrowed.

"…" Yunoki's smile never left.

"…Well?"

"I wanted to see you show off about how you solved the mystery."

Kahoko tripped on nothingness, and face-planted. _What a stupid reason…_

"Miss Hino, we've brought Suzuki Reiko, like you asked." said two officers.

"Thank you. Bring her over here." She replied.

They did as they were told, and Suzuki asked, "Why have you brought me here?"

Kahoko was about to answer, but Azuma quickly replied, "She wants you to see her show off her Detective Solving skills."

Reiko blinked. She had never seen a man so beautiful in her life. "Dear god, I could die happily any day now, because I've already met an angel~!" she fainted.

Hino's palm smacked her face. _What's so great about this guy anyways…?_

Azuma turned to face her. "You're thinking, 'what's so great about me', right?"

She flinched. "Er-of course not!"

He smiled. "I remember you used to think like Miss Suzuki about me, back in High School."

She felt her cheeks flush red. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" she stomped out of the corpse's office.

Yunoki chuckled. "Actually, you do."

•

Hino held the wireless communicator in her hand, and shouted orders into it. "Don't let him escape, he just turned right!"

"Yes, sir!" came the reply.

Police sirens were screaming around the city area.

Kahoko was chasing down the suspect-Wakabe Taika, she had found out where his business corporation was, but discovered he was on the run, but traffic was pretty much jammed, so he jumped out of the car, and Kahoko also got out of the car to make sure her eyes never left him.

"Police number 3; I want you to back up number 5!"

"Got it!"

"Number 4; with me! Number 1, you're still chasing him, right?!"

"Yes!"

"Good, keep at it!" she panted. "He shouldn't be able to keep on running for much longer!"

Kahoko saw him turn a corner, and she skidded around it. She froze. It was a dead end. No one was there. "What?! That's impossible!"

She reached inside her jacket, and took out her pistol. Slowly, she walked towards the brick wall. The sounds of the police sirens were getting louder by the second. She tried to remain calm, but she knew that there was some sort of trick to this.

Suddenly, a man roughly pushed her, and ran out of the alleyway.

Hino quickly regained composure, and aimed her gun at the fleeing figure. She didn't want to kill Taika, she just needed to stop him. She closed one eye, and aimed for his shoulder. Her hands slightly trembled. Her right hand was loosely holding the pistol, while her left hand was clasped on the handle, with her fingers over her right, but slightly lower. She felt cold sweat run down her forehead, as her finger neared the trigger. She was about to pull it, but there was a sudden blinding light, and the police sirens were as loud as ever.

"Mr. Wakabe Taika, you're under arrest! Raise your hands above your head, and make your way to us." A police officer spoke through a megaphone.

Kahoko lowered her gun and sighed in relief. "Phew…we caught him."

•

Instead of taking him down to the Detention Centre for interrogation, they took him to the Konsaki Mansion. They made sure to handcuff his hands behind his back, and walked him through the hallways. Inside the office room, were a few officers, Hino, Yunoki, Suzuki & Wakabe.

An officer folded his arms. "Now, Detective Hino, would you please explain this whole mystery to us?"

"Of course." She took a step forward. "It's all simple really."

Yunoki raised an eyebrow.

"It was raining last night, and a storm had brewed up. The victim was finishing up some important paperwork, and was about to call it a night, when suddenly, someone had broken the window to enter his office. Now, obviously when you're in danger, you grab the nearest object that could somewhat help defend yourself. Mr. Konsaki had a knife in the top drawer of his desk, and had taken it with him, seeing as how anyone could attack him in the dark; it was just for a safety precaution." She opened the drawer, and showed everyone that nothing was in it.

Kahoko walked over to the bloody spot in the room. "Imagine there was no blood here; the victim struggled to get away, and had pointed his knife at the offender. Lots think that Konsaki didn't know who the unknown person was, but we can't cross that off yet. Perhaps he saw the person's face before he died?" She glanced over at Suzuki Reiko. "Miss Suzuki was the prime suspect. She was the earliest to arrive, and she had enough time to have committed the murder. But, no one had ever started to suspect that maybe, the killer was in fact someone else. No one knew of his huge business opponents, because Konsaki normally kept things to himself." She took a breath, and continued speaking. "According to the autopsy report, the victim had been stabbed through the heart, and had died instantly. However, I found a piece of paper behind the body, with Suzuki's name on it, written with the victim's blood. Any person who saw this would think it was the victim's dying message, indicating that she was the killer, but the truth is, Mr. Wakabe Taika didn't want to be caught, so he framed his acquaintance, Suzuki Reiko. The both of them were in this plan together; the proof is on Suzuki's cellphone. Unlucky for her, she forgot to delete the message history." Kahoko threw the cellphone at one of the officers, who caught it to check it himself.

"The officers assumed that the victim was stabbed with the knife he was holding, in other words, they're saying that the victim either decided to commit suicide, which is highly unlikely, otherwise it wouldn't be a homicide, or the killer used the victim's knife to stab him. The first is unrealistic, and the second would be difficult to accomplish. So, how did the victim die then?"

Hino looked around the room. Yunoki had a hand on his chin, thinking about it. Suzuki Reiko had her eyes shut tightly, hoping this was all a dream. Wakabe Taika was starting to sweat bullets, and the officers were murmuring to one another. She continued, "Mr. Taika and Mr. Konsaki had different thoughts on the same business, so Taika thought: 'All I need to do is steal the important documents, then he won't be able to do anything.' Hence, Taika broke into the victim's office. The problem was, Konsaki was still awake, and there. Taika needed to make sure he never spoke of this, so he did the most logical thing he could think of at the time-kill him. After killing him, Taika scurried around the office, trying to find the documents. That explains why there were so many papers on the ground, because he was in a rush. Taika found the documents in the third drawer, but he was careless." She held up the first paper out of five. "You left one paper behind, but you hadn't realized this until after you were out of the office, back to safety. You knew that you couldn't risk going back, so you decided to leave it, but that was also no good, because it turned out to be a vital piece of evidence for me. That is also why you came in search of me the following day, unfortunately for you, I hadn't even found the paper yet, nor did I have it on me at the time."

Wakabe cringed. Everything she had said so far was right.

"Now, after the killing, Suzuki waited until it was the right moment, and arrived at the mansion at the usual time. Suzuki & Wakabe had made a deal together. Wakabe gets the documents, and Suzuki gets the money. Suzuki was hired as a maid, which gave her the perfect opportunity to look for his money; and found it behind this painting, inside a safe." Kahoko pointed to a canvas with golden frame, hanging on the wall. "She didn't know what the code was, so she smashed it open with a hammer, and copied the victim's handwriting for the signature. This all happened just before she called the cops. I'm referring to one of the text messages. '_Have you finished getting what you wanted? Reply: Yes. I called the cops. They're on their way. Good job on the killing._' Also, Suzuki clearly stated that it took the cops ten to fifteen minutes to arrive, that was enough time to cover up her actions, and apply eye drops to make it look as if she had broken down."

An officer raised his hand. "I have a question."

She turned to him. "What is it?"

"Well, you still haven't explained what the murder weapon was…so what is it?"

"Ah…that." She walked over to the used-to-be-window. "Officers, you might want to put some gloves on. I want you to piece up all these broken bits of shattered glass together."

"What? That will take a long time!"

"How long are we talking here?"

"About…an hour?"

Kahoko's eyes narrowed. "I'll give you half an hour."

They quickly rushed to the broken window, and started to piece the shards like a jigsaw puzzle.

•

"Coffee, Detective Hino?" grinned Yunoki Azuma.

"No thank you." She shook her head.

"Then what would you like to drink?" he asked.

"…Tea."

"Officer over there, please get me some tea." He ordered.

"Don't bother asking me, if you're not the one who's going to get the tea!" scowled Hino.

"Oh? So you would prefer it if I prepared the tea for you instead?"

"I never said such a-"

"Never mind, officer. I'll get it." He started to head out the door.

Kahoko called after him. "Even if you do get me tea, I won't drink it!"

Azuma walked back. "Then why bother telling me that you wanted to drink tea?"

"Because you asked me what I wanted to drink!"

He sighed. "If you want to drink something, then you should drink it."

"I said I _wanted _to drink it, but I didn't mean that I _needed_ to drink it _right now_."

"Yes, but even so-"

She cut him off. "Ugh! This is a stupid conversation!"

•

**Half an hour passed…**

"Finished yet?" Hino walked over to the broken glass.

The officers nodded. "Just now."

Everyone gazed over the pieced shards, neatly laid out on the lush carpet.

"What was the point in doing that?" asked Suzuki.

Kahoko folded her arms. "Notice anything?"

Azuma took a step forward. "There's a part missing."

"You're correct." Kahoko pointed at the empty space. "The missing glass shard's shape, looks pretty sharp, don't you think? And it's big enough for a person to hold. It's pointy enough to be used to cut or stab something…"

Hino took a step outside the used-to-be-window, and looked at the grass. Something glinted in the sunlight. A few meters away from the office room, there was some glass left in the soil. She walked over to it, and bent over. It had the exact same shape as the missing piece of the shards, and half of it was covered in blood. Kahoko picked it up, wearing gloves, and walked back into the office. "This is the murder weapon. Just a broken shard of glass."

They all stared at it. "When Wakabe broke into the office, he saw that Konsaki was still there. Trying to find a weapon to kill him with, he hastily picked up the broken shard off the ground, and neared the frightened man. After he had stabbed him, Wakabe grabbed the documents, ran outside through the way he came, and tossed the blood-stained glass away. Another careless act."

Everyone in the room was silent. They all gazed at Hino with either amazement, or stunned faces.

Yunoki was the first to snap out of it. He strolled over to Suzuki & Wakabe. "Miss Suzuki, you're charged for thievery. And Mr. Wakabe, you're charged for murder & thievery, no matter your high status. Now, kindly come with me."

He led them to the police cars, and watched them gloomily get into the back seat. Yunoki walked over to the fancy black car behind them, and the chauffeur opened the door for him, and bowed. "Young Master."

He was about to step into the car, but turned to face the red haired Detective standing at the gateway. He flashed one of his princely smiles at her. "Another well done job completed. As expected of the Crimson Blaze."

"Argh! Don't call me that!" she shook her fists at him.

Yunoki chuckled, and stepped into the car. "Until next time."

•

Hino Kahoko sighed, as she sat at her desk, in her classy office. "What's the point in writing up a report, when the Head of Detectives doesn't even bother to read them…?"

She imagined a cigarette in Kanazawa's mouth, while lifting up his pet ginger cat into the air_. 'Up you go!' then he would swing the cat back down. 'And down you go!' then swing it back up. 'And up you go again!'_ She shook her head to clear the thought. _Concentrate on finishing the report!_

Murderer, Wakabe Taika, of the Wakabe Corporation, stabbed Konsaki Yahiro with a broken piece of glass. After successfully killing him, he stole the documents, while his 'acquaintance', Suzuki Reiko, later stole the cheque inside a secret safe.

She then placed the papers into a folder, and grabbed a stamp from one of her drawers. It was a stamp with red ink, and words in capital letters. She gripped its handle, and pressed down on the surface of the plain brown folder.

_**CASE CLOSED**_

**-End Of Chapter Two-**

* * *

I apologize for the lack of Azuma x Kahoko…but, put that aside, I finished it! Hurray!

And no, that is not the end of the whole story, just the first case. The second case is the next chapter; and guess what?! One of the La Corda characters is going to be introduced in it! Hope you all look forward to it~ Sayonara!

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	3. A Man And His Dog

I finally managed to get around to writing this chapter for this fanfiction! Hope you guys like it ;D

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 2: A Man And His Dog**

-Part 1-

_~One gunshot, one place, one time, two deaths~_

_A stroll in the park; and a dog waiting, wagging its tail. A child and a mother, walking, one falls first, the other stops. "Despicable…I killed…!" the last one collapsed on the ground, next to the first. The dog was the only one watching. The only one that saw everything through those small eyes. No one else was around. No one to see it. Only to hear; but hearing it is not enough to know what happened. No witnesses. However, if there were no witnesses, how did they come up with a suspect?_

•

"I need another good case soon, otherwise I won't be able to pay my rent…" sighed the red haired detective. "And I don't want to end up living on instant noodles for the rest of my life…"

Suddenly, a man who she has never seen before burst through her office door. He rushed over to the female detective's desk and slammed both of his sweaty palms on top of the polished smooth surface.

The stranger shouted with a panicky voice, "MY-MY DOG HAS GONE MISSING!"

Kahoko examined the loud man. He had messy hair that was the color of refreshing leaves, his white long sleeve was eft unbuttoned, and he wore a scarlet red shirt underneath the white layer, he also had jet black baggy pants that covered half of his plain dark shoes.

"…Excuse me?" Kahoko blinked twice.

The young man paused for a moment. "Ah, no…my dog hasn't gone missing…" mumbled the stranger.

_Is he just here to waste my time? _"Then-"

He butted in, not letting Kahoko finish off her sentence. "INSTEAD, HE'S BEEN DOGNAPPED!"

He collapsed onto the leather couch and had both of his hands on his head. "What do I do?" he panicked more.

"Hey, what's your name?" asked Kahoko, resisting the urge to shout 'YOU DON'T JUST CASUALLY BURST INTO SOMEONE'S OFFICE AND COLLAPSE ON THEIR FURNITURE!'

"Huh? Oh yeah! That's right! Sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself!" He scratched the back of his head and smiled. "I'm Hihara Kazuki, nice to meet you!"

"Ahaha…nice to meet you too…" replied Hino awkwardly.

"So, you're a Detective, right?" asked Kazuki.

"Correct. My name is Hino Kahoko. What brings you here to my office?"

"Well, it's about my pet dog."

"Er…I think I caught onto that."

"He's been dognapped! Agh!" it looked as if Kazuki was going to throw a seizure.

"Mr. Hihara, please calm down!" she sweat dropped.

"Oh…right." He took the seat opposite the young female's desk.

"So, tell me more about this…_case_." Detective Hino flashed a fake smile at the anxious greenhead.

"Okay, well…my dog's name is Scruffy, and…"

_This guy…named his dog…'Scruffy'…?_

"He went missing yesterday…um…" Hihara tilted his head and looked up, as if trying to remember.

"Hold on, if your dog went missing then why don't you report this to the police?" questioned Kahoko, slightly annoyed.

"I did! Believe me!" Kazuki raised his voice so loud, that a certain purple haired prince heard him, while walking down the Detective Office's Corridor. "What's with all the commotion coming from Detective Hino's office?" wondered the handsome detective. He peeked through the small gap in the slightly opened door. He sighed_. Another annoying client._ The lilac haired detective decided to stay and listen for a while.

"Then why are you here in my office? This is the Detective Department." Kahoko drummed her fingers on the ebony desk.

"That's because the police said to me," he put on a stern looking face, "Look, do you want to find your dog, or do you want to know who stole your dog?" Kazuki went back to his normal expression, "I want both! –That's what I said. Then the policeman said, 'Choose only ONE!' And I was like, 'Fine, I want to know who stole my dog!' Then he told me to go to the Detective's Department."

"Okay…"

"And that's why I'm here right now. So…will you take my case?"

_I would barely call it a case…I don't really want to take it, but I'm running low on cash so…ugh, but then again, it might be that stupid 'case' that Yunoki tried to get me to take!_

_~Flashback~_

"_Yes. A runaway dog sound good to you?"_

_She gave him a flat-out answer straight away. "No."_

"_Why not? I think it suits you quite well. After all, you do rather resemble a dog."_

_Azuma was about to walk out, but then he turned, and smirked. "Too bad you didn't take up that dog case."_

_~Flashback end~_

However, I desperately need to pay off that rent…but since it's just a missing dog, I won't make much money out of it…but some people say it's better to earn something than nothing so…

"Uh, sure…I guess?" answered Kahoko, still slightly unsure herself.

Hihara grabbed both of her hands; he practically had stars in his eyes. "Thank you so much, Detective Hino! I owe you! I'm so grateful because no one else would take my case! I actually kind of wonder why…"

_Probably because it's about a missing dog, which is pretty darn boring._ "Ahaha…I, uh, wouldn't know!"

"But really, thank you!" he thanked her again, but then they heard someone chuckle. Both turned, wondering who it was.

"Taking a dog case, Detective Hino? Pfft…_pitiful_." Yunoki Azuma was leaning on her doorway with a mocking smile.

Kahoko immediately rose from her chair, and slammed her hands on her polished desk. "Were you eavesdropping?!" _Tch…bad enough to see him every day of my career!_

"Me? Eavesdrop? I would never!" he said, in a fake tone.

Hino was getting hotheaded, like she usually did around him. "Grr…you-!"

"OH EM GEE! Are you that famous Detective, Yunoki Azuma?!" gasped Kazuki, excitedly.

Yunoki blinked twice. "Yes?"

"Can I have your autograph?!" Hihara grabbed out a pen.

"…Sure." Azuma put on a fake smile, and took the pen. "Where would you like me to sign?"

"Uh…" Kazuki checked his pockets, he realized he had nothing, and looked at the red head female, with eyes of hope.

"…" She sighed, and handed him a piece of paper.

Hihara graciously took it, and gave it to Azuma.

_Scribble…scribble…scribble._

Azuma scribbled, Kazuki waited, and Kahoko tried to calm down.

"Done." The handsome detective handed the paper and pen back.

"Thanks a lot!" grinned Kazuki.

"No problem. Miss Hino, did you want one too?" He smiled warmly at her.

"No thank you!" snapped Hino.

"Suit yourself." He headed for the door. "Oh, and have fun with your _dog case_." He chuckled, as he walked out.

"We will, thanks!" replied Kazuki, energetically.

_Obviously, he doesn't know what sarcasm is._ Kahoko's fuse was about to go off. "Hrrn…that guy is so-"

"Nice, right?!" Kazuki cut her off, cheerfully.

_...That's the last thing he is!_

•

Kahoko sighed for the hundredth time today. _Why am I doing this…?_

Kazuki and Kahoko were putting up posters of his dog, which read: 'HAVE YOU SEEN SCRUFFY?'

"Thank you again, for helping me! I would've never been able to put up this many posters without you!"

"No problem…!" smiled Kahoko, as she tried to hide her boredom.

The two continued putting up posters, in silence. Hino finally decided to pop the question. "So, why Scruffy?"

"Eh?" he paused, and looked at her.

"Why did you call your dog Scruffy?"

"Hmm…well, you see, I got him when I was quite young, and he's been with me ever since! And I saw that he was a really scruffy dog, and I was a kid, so I called him Scruffy!"

"Is that so…?"

"Haha, sounds really childish, doesn't it?" Kazuki scratched the back of his head.

"Um…yes, just a bit, I suppose." Kahoko could tell the conversation was dying, so she quickly changed the subject. "So, Mr. Hihara, do you have a job?"

"You can just call me Kazuki! And yes, I have a job. I work part time at a bakery, since I love sweets so much. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I get to take some home for free!" he replied, in a cheerful manner.

"Ah, okay then. And a bakery…that's rather interesting. Which one?"

"The bakery I work at is called Dream Sweets!" said Kazuki, proudly.

"Dream Sweets? That's my favorite bakery!" exclaimed Kahoko.

"Really? What's your favorite flavor?!" asked Hihara, excitedly.

"Oh gee, tough decision…what about you?"

"I like all of them!" grinned the green head.

Kahoko laughed a little. "Hehe, I see."

"So, Hino-Chan, what made you want to become a detective?" questioned Kazuki, curiously.

"M-Me?" She pointed to herself. "Well…"

"?" Hihara waited patiently.

"I've wanted to become a detective ever since middle school…" she trailed off, recalling past memories.

"Hm?"

"It started off really silly actually." She looked up at the sky. "I always loved watching T.V mysteries and such. Because, don't you think it's sort of fun to guess who the criminal is? And it really gets your heart racing, and makes you want to know more about that mysterious case, you know?"

Kazuki nodded. "Yeah! Like when you watch cars racing, then you try and guess which one will win, and it really gets your blood pumping!"

"Ahaha…you could say it's something like that."

"So, you decided to become a Detective because you like solving mysteries?" he asked.

"Not only that, but my Father disappeared when I was young. My mother and I never knew why, he just strangely left one day, and never came back. It was a complete mystery to us, and from then on, I decided that I would become a Detective, and discover the truth of my Father's disappearance." Explained Kahoko, absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Can I ask what your dad's name was?"

Kahoko nodded. "His name was Hino Takeshi."

"Hino…Takeshi…" Kazuki took the thinker's pose.

"Have you heard of him?" blinked the female detective.

"Hmmm…nope. But if I ever hear anything about him, I'll be sure to tell you!"

"Thank you." Kahoko gently smiled at him.

Suddenly, the two of them heard sirens in the distance. _"WHEE-O, WHEE-O, WHEE-O!"_

"!" Kahoko turned her head to face the direction of the sirens. The noise got louder, and soon, they saw police cars rush pass them.

"Whoa, what's that all about?" asked a shocked Hihara.

Hino blinked. "I don't know…" She watched the cars get smaller into the distance. "Hold on a second…"

"Huh?"

She dumped all of the posters onto Kazuki. "Sorry, Kazuki, I need to check out what's going on over there!"

The young detective hurriedly ran towards the same direction the cars had gone.

"Eh? W-Wait, Hino-Chan!"

•

"Good timing, Detective Hino!" commented an officer.

Kahoko was slightly panting, and tried to catch her breath. "What happened here?"

"A Homicide. Two dead."

"What? But it's broad daylight! Anyone would've seen the killer!" _Must not be very smart._

"Yes, but there are no witnesses." replied the officer.

"How is that possible? This is a public park! Surely there would be one or two people taking a stroll around here…"

"Nope, no one."

She sighed, and looked around. There were no other Detectives in sight, so she decided to take charge, completely forgetting about Kazuki and his dog case.

Kahoko started ordering the officers.

"You, I want you to make sure no one else comes in contact with the bodies."

"Yes, Ma'am." Came the reply.

She instructed another one of her officers. "Could you please get an autopsy report ready? I would like to be as organized as possible. In fact, make two. The lawyer would probably want one as well."

"Right on it."

"Please start clearing this area. Block it off to the public. Make sure no one unauthorized comes through."

"Gotcha."

"And gather forensics to start examining the bodies and area. We need as much information as possible. I would also like to try and hunt down some witnesses; I don't believe that there was no one around."

"You can count on me!"

Kahoko could hear her cellphone ringing, and she calmly flipped it open. "Hino Kahoko speaking."

"Miss Hino, I believe your client is here, in the Detective Department, waiting for you."

"Hah?"

She then heard the phone be passed over, and a familiar voice rang through her ears.

"Hino-Chan, is everything alright?! You suddenly ran off, and I tried to follow you, but ended up getting lost, and came back here to contact you!"

_How could I forget…? I'm still in the middle of this dog case._ "Uh…right, I'll be right there." She hung up, before he could say anymore.

"One last thing to all you officers." said Kahoko, loud enough for all to hear.

"?"

"If you see a dog like this, do notify me." She left a picture of Scruffy with them, and walked back to the Detective Department.

•

The Crimson Blaze entered the tall building filled with Detectives and Officers. The receptionist nodded at her, and Hihara ran up to her. "Here you are! Where were you?"

"At the local park. There was a murder." She replied, bluntly.

"Oh, I see…" he shuddered a bit.

"Something wrong, Kazuki?" asked Hino.

"No…it's just I'm not too good at handling things like death."

"Ah, ok. Let's get back to what we were doing before." _Even though I don't really want to, a job's a job._

**Half an hour passed…**

The two had successfully put up all the posters, and decided to take a small break.

Hino heard her phone ringing again. She dug into her pocket, and fetched out the technical object. "It's Hino."

"Miss Hino, about that dog you were talking about earlier…we think its here." said the officer.

Kahoko stood up. "What? Where?"

"At the crime scene, but it's only what we think, we might-"

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP._

She closed her cellphone, and glanced at Hihara. "Kazuki, your dog may have been sighted. Let's go!"

"Huh? Oh, right!" he ran after her.

•

The red haired girl blinked. Her officers weren't doing what she had asked for. They weren't following her orders, and they were doing different things she had told them to do. She walked up to the nearest officer, and gave him a sharp look. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Uh…well…"

Then a certain handsome Detective appeared behind Kahoko. "Something wrong, Miss Hino?"

Kahoko turns around angrily. "Actually, yes! Why-?!" she froze. Yunoki Azuma stood in front of her, smiling. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

"Didn't you hear? I'm taking on this case."

"WHAT?! But I've already taken charge of this area!"

"You apparently have but, remember? The maximum number of Detectives working on one case is two…_two_."

She ignored him and stomped up to one of the officers that she ordered to do work. "Didn't I tell you to make sure no unauthorized people come in here?"

The officer started to tremble. "Y-Yes but…Mr. Yunoki…"

Yunoki flashed another one of is perfect smiles. "Miss Hino, technically I AM authorized."

"No, you aren't."

He reached for something in his dark navy jacket pocket and showed Kahoko. Kahoko stared at it. It was the Director/President of the Detective Agency's signature. _Kanazawa Hiroto._ Azuma raised an eyebrow. "Satisfied?"

She shot a glare at him. "Fine! But I'm not working with you!"

"You'll probably regret saying that." He put the signature back in his pocket.

Kahoko looked at him suspiciously. "Why would I?"

Azuma smirked. "Because, I've just ordered your- our officers to do some other work that you did not ask for, which means…I'll be the one who gets the information, evidence and reports back. Not you."

"Why you-"

"Hino-Chan, I thought you said my dog was seen here?" Kazuki looked around.

"Erm…" she gazed around the place, and called out to the nearest officer. "Where's that dog?"

"Well, uh…we-we saw it over t-there!" the officer pointed to the dead bodies.

Kahoko walked over to the corpses. _Why would a dog be around some dead people?_ She stared at the two dead citizens. One a woman, the other, a young boy, who looked around the age of twelve. She assumed the woman was the boy's mother. That's when she noticed it. There was a trail of blood on the ground. "What? A trail of blood…perhaps one of the victims moved places before they died…"

She then heard distracting loud barking. Kahoko glanced up, to see Scruffy licking Kazuki's face. "Ahaha! Scruffy, where have you been?!"

Kahoko stared at the man and his dog.

Azuma was talking to another officer, but then noticed a frozen female detective. He walked over to her, calmly. "Something bothering you, Hino-San?"

"…" She couldn't draw her eyes away. Her mind was swarming with so many different thoughts.

Yunoki followed her gaze, and soon found himself staring hardly at the man and his dog.

Hihara noticed the two were staring. "Huh? Something wrong, guys?"

Kahoko lifted a finger to point at him. "There…"

"?"

She licked her dry lips and continued. "Kazuki…why is there blood on your shirt?"

**-End Of Chapter Three-**

* * *

That's the end of chapter three! I hope it's not too bad! :)  
By the way, what type of dog do you think Scruffy is? Tell me in your reviews! :D

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	4. The Case With No Witnesses

I'll admit-I was being lazy up until now :/

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 2: The Case With No Witnesses**

-Part 2-

_Previously:_

_The stranger shouted with a panicky voice, "MY-MY DOG HAS GONE MISSING!"_

"_Huh? Oh yeah! That's right! Sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself!" He scratched the back of his head and smiled. "I'm Hihara Kazuki, nice to meet you!"_

"_Suit yourself." He headed for the door. "Oh, and have fun with your dog case." He chuckled, as he walked out._

"_A Homicide. Two dead."_

"_Miss Hino, about that dog you were talking about earlier…we think its here." said the officer._

"_You apparently have but, remember? The maximum number of Detectives working on one case is two…two."_

_Hihara noticed the two were staring. "Huh? Something wrong, guys?"_

_She licked her dry lips and continued. "Kazuki…why is there blood on your shirt?"_

•

Kahoko bit the tip of her nail. "What are you talking about? That's impossible."

Azuma shook his head. "Forensics has already conducted tests on Hihara Kazuki's shirt. The results have already been confirmed, Hino-San. The blood on it was both of the victim's blood."

The red detective's mind was going crazy. "But how did the blood get there? It definitely wasn't there before! And I was with him the whole time!"

He replied, "We still don't know many things, but we can safely assume that Hihara is involved in the deaths."

"He wasn't there at the time of death. How can he be in two places at once?!"

"If I recall, weren't you separated from him for quite some time? In that short while, he could've done anything."

"Mr. Hihara is innocent! He doesn't deserve to be locked up in a cell, for a crime he didn't even commit."

"You don't have any proof."

"And you can't just jump to conclusions either," she glared at him.

"Look, we'll just try and work this out together, and once we find out the truth, you can prove his innocence, understood?" sighed Yunoki.

"…Fine."

•

**At the Detention Center…**

"I'm sorry, Detective Hino, visiting hours aren't open yet."

Kahoko shoved the Head of Detective's signature into the guard's face, and walked pass him, "Special people, special needs."

She fell onto the chair, and looked at the stressed man on the other side of the glass. "How did things end up this way…?" he sniffed.

"Hihara-San, everything will be okay. I'll get you out of this cell, and prove you're not guilty." She reassured him.

"Hino-Chan…" he looked at her.

"My being here is to question you. Now, I need you to answer with full honesty, because it's the only way I can help you get out of here. Do I make myself clear?"

Hihara nodded.

"First, where were you at the time of the crime?"

"Erm…what time was that?"

"Around 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM."

"Oh, I was with you-you know the flyers and all."

Azuma strolled into the Detention Center. "Uh…my apologies, Detective Yunoki, visiting hours aren't open until tomorrow." The guard moved into his way.

The calm prince pointed at the redhead. "Same reason as her." And grabbed a chair to sit next to Kahoko.

Hino sighed. She really didn't want to bother asking Kazuki these questions, because she already knew the answers, but it was her job. "Anyone else with you? Or did you notice anyone suspicious?"

Kazuki tilted his head to the side. "Hmm…"

Azuma put one leg over the other, and leaned back into his chair. "Waiting."

"Nope. It was just the two of us, alone together, hanging up posters and flyers."

Yunoki fake smiled, but in the inside he was glaring at the green-haired boy. "Alone together, huh? Are you certain it was only hanging up posters and such?"

"I'm 100 percent sure!"

Hino butted in. "Next question, do you have any idea how the blood got on your shirt?"

Kazuki looked at the two, seriously. "I don't. It definitely wasn't there before. Only when I had arrived at the park-that was when you guys noticed the blood."

"And what do you think Scruffy was doing at the crime scene?"

Yunoki muttered under his breath, "Oh please, can we just forget the dog?"

Kahoko hissed at him, "Of course we can't! This might be vital information!"

He rolled his eyes.

Kazuki was looking at the ceiling, as if trying to remember. "I don't know. He disappeared, I looked for him, and next thing I know it, he appears next to two dead bodies." He shivered.

"Do you have any connections to the victims?" Kahoko showed a picture of the two. The mother was quite a beauty. She had shining blonde hair, and hazel eyes. Whereas the young boy had brown hair, and sky blue eyes. Hino wondered about the difference in hair and eye color, but dismissed the thought.

"Never seen them in my life."

"Anything else you think is worth mentioning?"

"No…I don't think so…" he frowned, as he tried to go through his thoughts. "Oh, I know!"

"Yes?" the two detectives glanced at him, while putting away their chairs.

"Earlier today, at 10:00 AM, there was a small event happening at the town square!"

Yunoki decided he was wasting his time, and left before Hino. On the other hand, Kahoko raised an eyebrow, but listened to the suspect anyways. "An event? What time was it supposed to end?"

"At around 4 PM, I think."

"What type of event?"

"It was like…ah, it was a school fair!"

"A school fair…Hihara-San, how far away is the town square from the park?"

"Eh…I think it's just around the block."

_What? The two areas are so close, yet there were still no witnesses? It would make sense why the park was empty now, but if the school fair is only a block away…_ Kahoko put her beige coat back on. "Thank you for the information, Hihara-San. I'll be sure to give you an update next time I visit."

•

**Local Park, Scene of Crime, 4:45 PM…**

Hino smirked, as she pulled her gloves on. "One of my favorite parts of solving cases-investigating the crime scene."

First of all, she looked around at her surroundings, and took note of every detail. However, the only strange area was the part around the bodies. She took careful steps towards the corpses, and then noticed something. "The ground…it's dry." She turned her head towards a fellow officer. "Excuse me, can you please give me the weather report?"

"Of course."

Kahoko frowned_. I swear I saw some clouds before the murder…?_ She was handed the report, and read through it. _I was worrying over nothing…the forecast says it was just cloudy._

She continued making her way to the bodies. The female detective stood over them, looking down. Her eyes shifted from corner to corner. _First strange thing, the murderer had left the weapon behind._ She knelt down, and picked up the weapon. It was a gun. Hino cautiously opened the clip, and saw that it was almost fully loaded, except there were two bullets missing. _Two bullets…?_ Hino clicked her fingers. "Autopsy report please."

An officer gave her it, but instead of taking a look at it, she put it down next to her, and continued examining the scene. _Hm? What are these small red plastic scraps? _She picked one up. _Pieces of a balloon? Must be from the child. That's the second strange thing._ Her golden eyes darted from side to side. "Well, there's some dog fur…" suddenly, her eyes caught onto two important things. One, the trail of blood she had noticed before; leads to _outside_ of the park. And two, the bodies were shot in different places. The boy had been shot straight into the heart. The mother had been shot in the head. Kahoko puzzled over this. She took notes of these, and decided to solve the blood trail one first.

Hino gazed at the small blots of blood on the ground. "Hey, you." She motioned at a forensics officer.

"Yes?"

"Whose blood is this?" she pointed at the spots of red.

"The child's, I believe."

Hino raised an eyebrow. _After a shot to the heart, the kid would've died instantly. How could he have moved, in order to make this trail?_

She decided to follow it, and find out. While doing so, she bumped into someone. "Ah, I'm so sor-" the redhead glanced at who she bumped into, and saw it was the charming prince. "Oh, it's only you."

Yunoki questioned her, "What are you doing, Detective Hino?"

"I'm simply following this path to where it leads. And you?" she had a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Why, I had just finished following the path."

"And where did it lead to?"

Yunoki stayed quiet.

"?" Hino wondered what was up with the sudden silence.

He grabbed her hand, and forced her to follow him. "Come with me."

"What?! Where are we going?!"

"We've wasted far too much time here."

"Eh?!"

"I-We need another word with Hihara."

•

**5:20 PM, Detention Center**

"A thousand pardons, Detectives Hino & Yunoki, but visiting hours are closed for today…"

They both looked at the guard. "We have important business here." replied Hino.

"Please provide handcuffs, we'll need them." smiled Yunoki.

"Why would we need handcuffs?"

"So we can take Hihara Kazuki out for a little stroll."

"Hah…?

•

About ten minutes passed, and they were back at the crime scene. The three of them walked over to the bodies, where the blood trail started. Kazuki felt faint; he could never get used to being around gloomy death.

Kahoko put her hand on her hip. "Mr. Hihara, where do you live?"

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I asked where you lived."

"Uh…" _That's a bit stalker like…_ "Why?"

"It's regarding the case." They started following the trail.

"Oh well, my house is located at…"

Yunoki came to a halt. The trail had stopped.

"Ah, here we are! See, this is my house!" he pointed ahead of them.

Kahoko blinked, and examined the house. She then looked at the ground. Spots of blood. "…I knew it."

"Eh?! Why is there blood on the ground?!" gasped Kazuki.

The lilac-haired man nodded. "Hihara Kazuki lives near the local park."

"First, blood on his shirt, and now blood on his doorstep…" Kahoko put her hand to her chin.

Yunoki mumbled, "Well, here's a theory. The victims were at his place, Hihara-San shot them, but they were still alive. They grabbed the gun off of him, and made their way to the park, trying to escape. But collapsed at the park."

Hino immediately disagreed. "Impossible. It was an instant death to both of them. And Mr. Hihara had never met them before."

"Then how do you explain the blood?"

"That…"

"Didn't think you could come up with one." Azuma started to take a shocked Kazuki back to the Detention Center.

"Tch…someone must be trying to frame Hihara-San…but why?" Hino's eyes scanned the street. Nothing out of the ordinary. She knelt down, and stared at the blood trail harder. "Hm…"

One of the spots of blood had a rather strange shape. It had 3 smaller spots around it. "Hold on a second…" She examined the other spots. "If I follow Yunoki's unrealistic theory, then there's a huge contradiction. If the two victims were escaping from Hihara's house, after they had been shot, then wouldn't there be more and bigger blood stains on the ground…?"

It was as if a light bulb had appeared above her head, with a small 'ding'! "How could I have not realized before?!"

•

**Detective Department, Yunoki Azuma's Office, 6:00 PM**

A certain redhead barged through Yunoki's door. "YUNOKI!"

"My, have you never learned how to knock, Detective Hino?" Yunoki turned from the window, and glanced at the puffed detective.

She fast-walked up to him. "Never mind that, now listen."

"I'm flattered; this is the first time you've ever been excited to see me." smirked the prince.

"Really not the best time to say that. Anyways, I just discovered a vital piece of evidence."

"Oh?" Azuma raised an eyebrow, in interest.

Hino grabbed the evidence, and showed him. "This!"

"Ruff! Ruff!"

"…What is the mutt doing here?" he cringed. _In my office too…_

"It's not any mutt, it's Scruffy!" she pointed out.

"Get to the point."

She grabbed its paws, and showed them to him. Red.

His eyes widened. "You're not saying that…"

"Of course! It's simple, and it also clears up the fact that the dog was near the corpses!"

"What on earth…?" Yunoki's eyebrows furrowed.

"Scruffy went missing yesterday. We don't know where he was in the meantime, but suddenly appears at the crime scene, next to the bodies. Now, as you know, there was a small pool of blood, and the dog must've stepped into the red liquid, found its owner, Hihara Kazuki, had a lovely huggy reunion, which also explains how the blood appeared on his shirt, and walked off-most likely to head back home. That explains how the trail of blood was made to Hihara's house. I've also taken pictures." She handed him some pictures, and that's when he too, noticed the bloody paw print. "The blood was starting to dry, and the stains were getting smaller and smaller."

"Okay, so what do we do with the dog now?"

"Don't you get it, _Mr. Yunoki_?" muttered Hino.

"…?"

"This dog is officially a witness!"

"You're saying a _dog _watched the death of two victims?" scoffed Azuma.

"Of course I am! It's a lead for more information!"

He laughed. "Oh, and what are you going to do in order to get more information? Speak dog?"

She had the urge to slap him. "No…! I'll-I'll…think of something! At least I found something out! And what have YOU done?!"

"Some things, if that surprises you."

"Care to share?"

Yunoki's lips curved upwards. "Over dinner?"

"Who would want to have dinner with you…?" she glared at him.

"Over half the world. Yes or no?"

"I'll pass!" she hugged the dog.

"That's a shame. Guess you won't be getting any new information out of me then."

"Are you saying that the only way to make you tell me is to have dinner with you?" her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, but what else?"

"I'll only go if you're paying."

"It's a done deal."

•

"Why did I get the feeling it would be a fancy French restaurant?" murmured Hino. _He even bothered to buy me a dress…_

"Now, what would you like to order?" smiled Azuma.

Hino couldn't help but feel out of place, even though they were in a private room, it was still a glamorous room. "Erm…" she flipped through the menu.

"Great, we'll have that then."

She looked up from the menu. "Eh?! Wait, I haven't even-"

The waitress nodded. "And drinks?"

"Just water, thanks."

The waitress scribbled down a few things, took the menus, and walked out of the room.

"What do you think so far?" asked Yunoki.

She glared at him. "I don't care about the place, I thought I came here to listen to the information you gathered. Or is that just a lie to get me to come out here with you?"

He chuckled, "Oh dear, you need some more patience, Miss Hino. It wasn't a lie, in fact, I'll tell you now."

Kahoko tuned in. "Well?"

Yunoki's tone turned serious. "I gathered more information on the victims. The child is undoubtedly the son of the woman. His father had divorced with his mother, a few years ago. Earlier this year, the father had been reported dead, due to a car accident and alcohol. The mother's name was Watanabe Natsumi, the father's name was Harada Daisuke, and the son's name was Seki."

Hino nodded, in thought. "So, that means there is an updated autopsy report, right?"

"That's correct, but it hasn't been released yet."

"Anything else?"

"I managed to get a 'witness'."

"What? But I was told that there was no one around to witness the murder."

"Exactly that. There was no one to _witness_ the murder. But there was a passerby, who _heard_ it."

"Anyone other than that?"

"Only that one, I'm afraid."

"Who are they?"

"Just an old man who likes to feed the pigeons."

"Then how can we rely on his testimony…?" Kahoko hung her head low.

"Better than a dog." He looked at the door, as it opened, and the waitress served the food.

The female detective sighed. "Whatever then…"

Azuma picked up his knife and fork. "Bon Appetit."

**-End Of Chapter Four-**

* * *

Hope you guys don't rage at me for the very late update! ;D

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	5. Crucial Evidence

Late double update too~

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 2: Crucial Evidence**

-Part 3-

_Previously:_

_Azuma shook his head. "Forensics has already conducted tests on Hihara Kazuki's shirt. The results have already been confirmed, Hino-San. The blood on it was both of the victim's blood."_

"_Mr. Hihara is innocent! He doesn't deserve to be locked up in a cell, for a crime he didn't even commit."_

"_First, blood on his shirt, and now blood on his doorstep…" Kahoko put her hand to her chin._

"_I'm flattered; this is the first time you've ever been excited to see me." smirked the prince._

"…_What is the mutt doing here?" he cringed. In my office too…_

_Yunoki's lips curved upwards. "Over dinner?"_

"_Exactly that. There was no one to witness the murder. But there was a passerby, who heard it."_

•

"Thanks for dinner." Hino exited the fancy restaurant.

"Wait, Hino-San." smiled Yunoki.

"Sorry, in a rush."

"I said _wait_." His voice was colder.

She froze. He linked arms with her. "Allow me to take you home."

"I'd rather you didn't…" _WHY SHOULD THIS GUY GET TO KNOW WHERE I LIVE?!_ She tried to pull her arm away from him.

"Haha, what are you talking about? We're already in the car."

"!" she looked out the tinted glass windows, as the door was locked. "NOOOO! SOMEONE HELP, I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!"

"Not just tinted, sound proof too." chuckled Azuma.

"Tch…I hate you…" she growled.

"I love you too, Kahoko." A mischievous smirk widened on his face. "Now, your address?"

•

**Minutes later…**

Azuma stepped out of the car, and opened Kahoko's door for her. He offered his hand to her, but she pushed it away, and got out herself. "Thank you for the ride, now goodbye."

"Anytime."

She walked pass him, without a second glance.

"Fufufu…Not even a goodnight kiss?"

Hino turned around immediately, with a flushed face. "W-What?! A g-g-goodnight k-k-k-kiss?!" she barely managed to choke the last word out.

He took a step closer to her. "Of course. It's the least payment you could give me for tonight."

"D-Don't take one more step closer!" she thrust her hand out.

Yunoki laughed so hard. "Ahahaha! I'm only kidding, Detective!"

Hino felt as if she was made a fool out of. "…!"

"You're still the same as ever." He turned his back on her, and headed back into the car. Before he closed the door, he flashed a smile. "Maybe next time…" And the car drove off.

"NEXT TIME WON'T HAPPEN!" she shouted after the black car. "Good grief…"

•

The stressed Detective took granny steps into her apartment room. As soon as she got in, she collapsed onto her couch. Staring at the ceiling, her thoughts decided to focus on the strange case. "The logic I've gathered so far are..." She listed them down in a note book.

-Blood Trail=Dog Paw Prints

-Victims' Background (In autopsy report as well)

-Time: 2:30 PM-3:00 PM

-Place: Local Park

-Only witness is an old man who likes to feed pigeons (And the dog, which apparently doesn't count)

-Two bullets were shot, according to the clip in the gun

-There are strange red plastic scraps around the child's body

-There was a school fair, starts at 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

She put the pen down. "And that's it so far." She stared harder at the piece of paper, and began to connect the facts. _Now that I think about it, the red scraps were sort of rubbery…I have a feeling it has something to do with the school fair_… "!"

Hino thought aloud to herself, "That's it! The child and mother went to the school fair, and decided to leave early-at 2:30 PM. Since they had just left the school fair, it wouldn't be unusual if a child had a red balloon with them. Making their way home, they went through the park, as it was a short cut to their house. Scruffy, must have followed the two, for some reason. Perhaps, it's because Scruffy likes to play with children, and was also attracted to the bright red balloon. If that's the case, Scruffy was there when the two died, thus the blood on his paws. The dog obviously didn't know what was going on, and ran away. My officers arrived there, then I got there, then I left, Scruffy didn't know what to do, came back to the crime scene, I go back there, then we leave with a 'guilty' Hihara, afterwards the dog decides to go back to the only place he could think of-home." She took a deep breath in. _That all sounds about right. But then that leaves two things. The bullets and the unknown witness._

Her eyes trailed to a long box, which was lying on a small shelf. She grabbed it, and opened it slowly. Her light brown violin seemed to shine in the moonlight, the violin was rarely used, and even so, it still produces a beautiful sound. The strings were just like any normal silver strings, but the thinnest one, the E string, was golden. A smile formed on her lips, as she took it out, and rested her chin onto the black chin rest. Her fingers slid into the correct position of the bow, as she closed her eyes and the violin began to sing.

The piece she was playing was Tchaikovsky-Mélodie in E-flat major, Op.42 No.3. She knew most of the pieces she played off by heart, and even though her fingers were climbing the fingerboard, her mind was swarming with so many different theories and thoughts about the case.

_Who is the killer?_ Her eyebrows furrowed_. There were two bullets, one in each body. The child-in the heart, shot from behind. The mother-shot in the head. But the balloon must've popped somehow. Did the dog pounce onto it, or did the murderer shoot the bullet into the floating balloon, and it went through into the mother's head? Why would the killer want a child and mother dead? At first, I'd think it was the divorced husband who killed the two, but he was dead way beforehand. This is really starting to confuse me. Could it have been the old man 'witness'? But why? No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions without even meeting this 'witness'. I could always try pretending I'm in the victims' place, and take it from there. That way I could come up with a better theory than Yunoki's._ Kahoko paused at the rest note, and then drew the bow downwards again. _Let's start then. I'll pretend I'm Seki. I had just visited the school fair, and started to walk back home with my mother, with a balloon in my hand. We go through the park, since it's faster. On the way, I saw a dog run up to us and tailed after me for a while. It seemed like it wanted to play with me and my balloon. I knelt down, and patted it, but then the skies began to turn cloudy, and I could see some black birds perched on the tree branches. My mother ushers me to hurry, as it looked like it were going to rain. I ran ahead of her, just a meter between us. The wind blew pass me, as my legs continued to move. The balloon was nearly touching the ground, as I kept running speedily, with my mother fast-walking behind me. I suddenly hear a loud bang, and a stabbing pain pierced through-_Hino stopped playing abruptly. "If the child was shot from behind, and he was running in front of his mother…" she lay down the violin, back into its case, as her eyes turned blank. "Either the mother was shot down first, and then the killer took a strike at the kid, or…no, that can't be it…"

•

**The next day…**

"I'm just a frail old man! What do you young ones want from me?!" glared the old man. He was the 'witness'.

"I'm Yunoki Azuma. Do you not recall me visiting you yesterday?" questioned the charming detective.

"Hmm…" the old man scratched his head. "I might have…I might have not."

Kahoko whispered in Yunoki's ear, "See? I knew he'd be useless!"

He sighed. "Excuse me, sir, could you please tell me your name?"

"Tell me what yours is first. Sheesh, don't whippersnappers know what common courtesy is these days?!" he pointed at the couple.

Yunoki sweat dropped. "I just told you my name."

"What about her?" The old man looked at Hino.

"She is my partner on this case. Her well-known title is 'The Crimson Blaze-Hino Kahoko'." Yunoki introduced the redhead.

"Nice to meet you…" Kahoko had a fake smile plastered onto her face, as she elbowed Yunoki in the arm. "I told you not to call me that!" she muttered under her breath.

"Ah…Hino Kahoko…what a lovely name. If only I was thirty years younger…" sighed the grandpa.

_Not before I get with her before you, old man._ Yunoki cleared his throat. "And your name is?"

"The name's Yamataro."

"Well then, Mr. Yamataro…please tell me about yesterday."

"Huh? What happened yesterday?"

Hino grabbed Yunoki's shoulder. "I give up! This man is completely useless!"

"Not completely." Whispered Yunoki. He whirled around, and flashed a smile at the man. "Yesterday, there was a murder incident. As you can see, over there." He pointed at the area with police officers, forensics, and investigators moving around.

"A murder, ye say? Who was the unlucky person?"

The purple-haired prince rolled his eyes. He had already told this information to Yamataro yesterday. He glanced at the redhead. "I really don't want to have you do this, but I need you to flirt with him."

Hino recoiled in horror. "What did you just say?!"

"Do it." Azuma gave her a stern look.

She sighed, and reluctantly sat next to Yamataro on the park bench. "So, Yamataro…erm…" she looked at Yunoki. _What do I say?!_

'Something regarding the case!' was the look he gave back.

"Well, I heard two people died yesterday, at this very park. I'm so scared, what if you're the next target?!" Kahoko battered her eyelashes.

The old man frowned. "Why would you be worrying about an old man being killed next?"

Hino looked into his eyes. "Because I deeply care about you, Mr. Yamataro! If I lose you, who else will fill up the empty space in my heart?!"

Yunoki turned away to cough from hearing those cheesy words_. If only you knew that I'd definitely be the one to fill the empty space in your heart…_

Yamataro couldn't help but blush. "W-Well…"

"If you can just tell me a little bit of helpful information…" Hino sat closer to him. "I could easily catch the criminal, and make sure you're safe!"

"Ah…oh, okay then…hehe…" the old man laughed, sheepishly.

This was obviously pissing Yunoki off, so he stood there, tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'll tell you...yesterday, I was taking a stroll to the park at the usual time, 2:45 PM, to feed the pigeons. I had nothing else to do with this old life of mine. While I was walking, I could see the clouds closing in, and thought it was going to rain. I just shrugged it off though, and continued walking leisurely. I then heard running and hurried footsteps. And then that's when I heard that sound."

Hino leaned in closer. "What sound?"

Yamataro swallowed hard. "I heard the sound of a gunshot."

"Go on." mumbled Yunoki.

"After that one gunshot, I quickly ran towards the source, but my eyesight was failing me, and all I could see was some red. Assuming someone was injured; I hurried to the nearest public telephone, and called the police. And that was all." finished Yamataro, as he slouched.

"So, you're the one who sent word out for officers and us to arrive at the crime scene…" Yunoki put his hand to his chin.

Hino frowned. "Did you just say one gunshot?"

"Yes, I did. Why?" asked the man.

"How could there only be one gunshot…if two bullets were used?" she puzzled over this.

Yunoki blinked. "You've got a point. Pardon me, asking this, sir, but were your ears failing you as well?"

Yamataro snapped at him. "No, of course they weren't! My ears are as good as a bat!"

Kahoko mumbled, "That's inhumanly impossible…"

"Huh? What did you just say?" asked the man, as he stuck his ear out.

The two detectives sighed. _Looks like this is as much information we can get out of him…_

•

The two detectives re-examined the bodies on the ground.

"You're right. Two bullets are missing from the clip, and one bullet in each body." said Yunoki.

"And yet, he said there was only one gunshot." muttered Hino.

"We can't rely on his words, just forget about that."

"No, I think he's right…"

"What makes you think that?"

"It didn't seem like he was lying. Oh, and we still need to work out the murderer." Hino remembered the scene she had made up last night, when she was playing the violin._ No…that's absolutely absurd…_

"Are you alright, Hino-San?" Yunoki had a concerned expression on his face.

"I'm…fine."

"You look quite pale. Is there something on your mind?"

"Well, actually…no, it's nothing."

"…If you say so."

Hino continued examining the bodies, and then that's when something struck her. She closed her eyes, and tried to gather all the information, and piece it together like a jigsaw puzzle. After a few minutes, Hino's mind had still not stopped flushing with information and theories.

"Hino-San!" Yunoki called out to her.

Her eyes snapped open. "Whoa."

"Are you sure you're alright?" he raised an eyebrow.

"That…that was reality."

"Hm? What was?"

"That was what happened!" Hino stood up.

"I…I don't follow?" Yunoki also stood up.

"I know what happened, Yunoki. I know who the killer is, how it all occurred, and…it's all because of one evidence that played a crucial part, but it nearly went unnoticed." Her eyes narrowed.

"What piece of evidence?"

Kahoko smirked. "Scruffy."

•

The Crimson Blaze, Lilac Prince, suspect, witness, officers, and even the dog, was all there. Hino had called for all of them to gather. She even called out the Head of Detectives-Kanazawa Hiroto.

"Hino-Chan, what are we all doing here at the crime scene?" questioned a curious Kazuki.

"I'm going to demonstrate the murder scene."

"Huh?" they all blinked at her.

Hino pointed at herself. "I'll pretend I'm the mother, Watanabe Natsumi-San." She then nodded at Kazuki. "Hihara-San, you're going to be the child, Seki." She then exchanged glances with Azuma. "And Yunoki, you'll play the role of Mr. Yamataro."

Kahoko gave Kazuki a red balloon to hold, and she took off Scruffy's leash. She then asked Yunoki to stand near the entrance of the park, and instructed officers to move the corpses and such. After time passed, and everything was set, Kahoko and Kazuki walked over to the park entrance as well, while the audience watched. Hino noted the time. It was exactly 2:35 PM.

Hihara and Hino were walking next to each other, side by side. Hino started the conversation first. "Seki, did you like the school fair?"

Kazuki decided to make up an answer. "Yes, I did. Thank you for taking me…?"

"It was my pleasure. I had fun too." smiled Kahoko. "Ah, we'll go through the park, since it's faster."

The two continued walking and they spotted Scruffy waiting near the entrance of the park. It excitedly ran up to Kazuki, and barked at him playfully. Scruffy kept trying to reach for the floating red balloon.

Hihara laughed, and knelt down to pat the dog. "Mother, it seems like he's attracted to this balloon."

Hino gazed at the sky. "Oh dear, Seki, forget the dog, we really must be on our way. The clouds look like it'll bring rain."

"But I want to stay here awhile longer. There are some strange black birds on the tree branches, and this dog is cute…" whined Kazuki.

Hino gently pushed Kazuki. "Seki, let's go, we should hurry back to the house."

Kazuki merely nodded, and started to run ahead of Kahoko. He could feel the wind go pass him, and he made sure there was only a meter between them. Kahoko tried to catch up with him, but only power-walked. The balloon was almost touching the ground, and Scruffy saw that, and pounced onto the chance. At that same moment, Hino grabbed a gun out of her handbag, and aimed it at Kazuki's heart. "I…I can't take this anymore…!" The balloon popped, and the detective pulled the trigger at exactly the same time. Kazuki fell to the ground, pretending to be dead.

Yunoki then started to walk through the park, taking his time, on a leisurely stroll. At 2:45 PM.

Hino gasped at the scene before her. "Despicable…I killed…!" she started to panic; she held her head in her hands. "It's not my fault…I didn't do it…no…it's all Daisuke's fault! Seki…Seki just…why?! Why does Seki have to look so much like him?! Why do you resemble each other?! Why is the voice similar as well?! It's Daisuke's fault that I had shot Seki…yes, if Daisuke had never met me, then Seki would have never been born, and if he weren't born, then we would've never divorced, and driven me to this misery….Daisuke was the one who put me through this living hell…having to see a copy of him every day of my life!" Kahoko knelt down, and her eyes widened, as her gaze was locked onto the dead child. "Seki…" she then saw the pool of blood forming around him. Kahoko's eyes were shocked, full of fear. She put her hands to her mouth. "Dead…he's dead…I killed him…but it was Daisuke's fault…I…" Kahoko had tears falling down her cheeks, and she smiled. "Haha…yes, if both of you are dead, then I can live peacefully. Ahahahahaha!" she raised the gun, and brought it to her head. "I am so sorry, Seki." Still smiling, she pulled the trigger, and fell to the ground.

The dog had walked into the pool of blood, blinking, wondering what was going on. Scruffy was so confused he ran off to the audience.

Yunoki flinched when he heard the sound of a gunshot. He quickly ran to the scene, but he could only see red. He hurried to the nearest public telephone. "Help, please come quickly! Two people have-"

Hino stood up. "Okay, that's it."

Hihara also stood up. "Phew…you're a good actor Hino-Chan! I seriously thought you were crazy for a second there!"

Yunoki calmly walked back to the group. "So did I."

Kahoko laughed. "Haha, thank you?"

Kanazawa clapped, and then put his hands into his pockets. "Bravo. Basically, you're saying Natsumi, the mother, killed her own child, Seki, because he looked like Daisuke, the husband whom she divorced with, which she was driven mad, and killed herself as well. Then, the dog had got its paw prints bloody, and made the blood trail, which led to Mr. Hihara becoming a murder suspect; and Yunoki was being Yamataro, explaining how he would've only heard one gunshot, because the balloon disguised the other one. Correct?"

Hino nodded. "That is correct. It's the only theory that I can think of, which would've realistically happened. Not only that, but I'd say the evidence pretty much supports the theory as well."

Yunoki folded his arms. "I have a question, Hino-San. Why did you think the mother was driven mad after shooting down her child, because of Daisuke?"

Kahoko handed him the updated autopsy report. "Yunoki, it says that Mr. Harada died from a car incident thanks to alcohol. It also mentions that the reason why the two divorced was because Mr. Harada abused her every time he came home drunk. Miss Watanabe had to go through that painful nightmare, and decided that she will also take care of Seki. She soon realized that she was reliving hell, because Seki reminded her of the abusive times of Harada, and thus, she shot him, thinking it would solve everything. Not only was she mad, but she was afraid that Seki might turn out like Harada as well. She then shot herself, because of her craziness."

The male detective nodded. "I see…" he looked at Kanazawa. "I have to agree with Hino-San's theory. It all adds up, leaving no suspicions behind, whatsoever."

Hiroto nodded. "Well then, good job you two."

The officers cheered. "Yeah! Another case solved!"

"As expected of the Lilac Prince~!" swooned a female officer.

"Please, it was all Hino-San." smiled Yunoki.

"Hmph!" Kahoko walked away.

"Wait, Kaho-Chan!" Kazuki ran after the redhead.

Hino turned, "Eh? Me?"

"Ah-I'm sorry, may I call you Kaho-Chan?" Kazuki blushed a little.

"Oh…sure…anyways, you wanted to tell me something?"

Hihara bowed very low. "Thank you so much for everything! First, you helped search for Scruffy, and second, you help me prove my innocence! I can't thank you enough!"

Kahoko laughed. "You're welcome; you don't need to thank me so much."

"No, really, thank you! You're the best Detective I know!"

_Other than Yunoki…_ "You're welcome again…!"

_After that, Mr. Hihara wouldn't stop thanking me. I lost count, so it was probably more than ten times. He gave me a free coupon to Dream Sweets Bakery, so that makes me happy. Although, I still can't believe a mother would kill her own child…but I suppose that's just how some people's lives are probably more gruesome cases out there. Oh, and afterwards, Yunoki also congratulated me for once…like I wanted his congratulations. Well, whatever. I have solved every case successfully so far…and I plan to keep it that way._

She then placed the papers into a folder, and grabbed a stamp from one of her drawers. It was a stamp with red ink, and words in capital letters. She gripped its handle, and pressed down on the surface of the plain brown folder.

_**CASE CLOSED**_

**-End Of Chapter Five-**

* * *

And that's another case closed~

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	6. Azure Shadow, Lilac Prince & Akuma

Okay guys, I've seen a few reviews saying: More Fluff! Or something along those lines, and I'm noob here, so define fluff :) thanks~

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 3: The Azure Shadow, The Lilac Prince & The Akuma**

-Part 1-

_~Expect the unexpected, and Unexpect the expected~_

"_Well then, I'll be on my way. I'll leave things in your hands, officer." Azuma smiled, and locked his office door. He then handed the key to the officer. "Yes, sir! You can count on me!" Walking away from the Detective Department, the lilac prince gave one last glance at the building. "I expect…"  
The door creaks open, oh but how can it be open if it was locked? With a key, yes, with a key. Is stealing an art? Yes. What are you stealing, I wonder? What else, but an important piece of evidence regarding the case? The one evidence that can change the verdict of a suspect forever._

Hino sleepily pressed the elevator buttons, as the elevator drifted up. Then stopped with a 'ding', and the doors open. Just like she usually did, she walked over to her office, and opened the plain door. A few officers waved at her, "Morning, Miss Hino!"

She yawned. "Morning…" then she proceeded into her office. The redhead paused._ Officers? On this floor?_ She rubbed the eye dust away, and peered outside again. "What the…?"

Just opposite her door, Yunoki Azuma's office was secured off with yellow tape, and there were officers and forensics swarming around the place. The man himself, was standing in the center of the office, sighing. "Why is this so predictable?"

Hino lifted the yellow tape over her head, and strolled up to Yunoki. "Hey, what happened here?"

"Hm? Ah, Miss Hino. Now you care about me? About time." He smirked.

She glared at him. "I'm not caring about you, I'm just curious." She looked around. "I mean, your office is a total…mess."

"Why thank you, and no, I did not arrange it to be this way." He held some of his long purple hair. "Look at my safe for storing evidence, Detective Hino."

She did, and gasped. "It's…open? So?"

Yunoki rolled his eyes. "Allow me to explain." He grabbed her hand, and pushed her onto the cream white sofa. "Sit."

"But-"

"Stay."

"I'M NOT A DOG!"

He chuckled, and pointed at the fancy clock in his office. "Last night, I left this office at exactly 10:03 PM last night."

"Who actually remembers the exact time they leave…?" Kahoko mumbled.

"I handed the key to the officer in charge of security, like we all usually do, yes?"

"Yeah, I left at 9, so I just took the elevator down, handed the key to the guy, and waved sayonara." She folded her arms. "Can we please get to the point? I'm losing patience."

"Do you remember who was on duty last night?"

"No…?"

"He's over there, being interrogated at the doorway. His name is Sakurai. Officer Sakurai."

"Don't tell me you're trying to hook me up with him?"

"Ahaha, of course not. You're mine. Anyways, he's the suspect."

"YOURS?! And what?" she blinked.

Azuma's slim finger then pointed to the door. "Does that door look bashed up to you?"

"If it were your face, then I wish…" she grumbled quietly.

"Well?"

"Uh…no. It looks like your average Oh-I'm-Such-A-Fancy-Door-Because-I'm-Yunoki-Azuma' s-Door." Then Hino thought, _Wow, he even replaced the door to something fancy, whereas I left mine to be the usual plain door…Who on earth actually bothers to CHANGE a door?_

"Then the thief must have used a key to get in, rather than bashing the door open. And who did I say, I gave the key to?" he sat down next to her, on the sofa.

"Ah! Officer Sakurai…hold on a sec. What was stolen?"

"Evidence. From the safe that I pointed out five minutes ago."

"But then they'd have to know your code to open it!"

"So it must be someone who has been watching me." He then added on, "Like yourself?"

"I'd rather gorge my eyes out, than watch you." She muttered under her breath.

"Very funny, Miss Hino. Basically, I handed the keys to Officer Sakurai, he takes it, I leave, he uses the key to get in, magically knows my safe number, and takes the evidence."

"Well…is the evidence important?"

"Please tell me, you didn't ask what I think you just asked." He looked at her in the corner of his eye.

"…Is the evidence important?"

"Of course it is. As a Detective, you should know that _every_ piece of evidence is important. But this one was…"

"Even more important than important?"

"That's right."

"What was it?"

"This." He showed up a piece of paper with some words and blood on it.

She pointed at it. "How can Mr. Sakurai be accused of thievery, if you've got the item right there?!"

He sighed. "Sometimes I really wonder how you got to your position. This is only half of the evidence. The other half was in that safe."

"Oh…"

"Yes."

"So, the thief needs the other half?"

"Yes."

"So you basically tricked them by keeping one half?"

"Yes."

"How'd you know it was going to be stolen though?"

"How? You ask?"

She nodded.

"It was predictable. Such an important piece of evidence for a case…only a person who was related to the suspect would want to change the results."

"Eh?"

"Officer Sakurai is related to the suspect in the case I'm currently working on."

"He's what?!" she stood up.

"I'm tired of explaining everything to you." Azuma folded his arms.

"And I'm tired of waking up this early every morning to only sit in my office. And I'm also tired of you being such a-"

"Here, homework." He lightly hit her head with a brown folder. "It's a copy of the autopsy of the case I'm working on. Read it yourself, if you want to know the details."

"Huh…?"

"I'm busy, I need to find out who the real thief is, and get that evidence back before tomorrow."

"You're kidding…the trial in the court is tomorrow?!" Kahoko gasped. _It'll be impossible to find the thief in that amount of time!_

Azuma put his hands on her shoulders, and started to lead her out of his office. "That's right. Perfect timing for a thievery, wouldn't you say?"

"How can you be so calm about this?!"

"Because I'm not you."

"…" She couldn't come up with something to say back to that. "Well, would you like help then?"

"Help? In solving this case? From you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Two heads are better than one." She shrugged.

"No thank you, Miss Hino. I'm sure you'd only be a nuisance." He smiled at her, and closed his officer door.

"That guy…!"

•

Kahoko sat at her desk, and opened the autopsy. "Let's see…"

Heisuke Sakurai, suspect for murder in the DL-84 case. His lover, Mika Harada, was stabbed 27 times. "Overkill much." Kahoko mumbled, as she continued to read. The body was found in a river, and Heisuke was seen at the river, holding the murder weapon, a knife. Not much evidence found at the scene of crime, except for a piece of paper with blood and writing on it.

Hino put a hand to her chin. "So, he's the suspect, she was the victim, and Masaki Sakurai-the officer, is Heisuke's brother. After she was stabbed 27 times, the murderer dumped her body into the river, and a bloody paper was found at the scene of crime, which was in his house." She put the papers down. "This is quite a tough case…I mean, they haven't figured out the motive, alibi, or how he even moved the body. The only evidence they can rely on is the paper that needs to go through tests on whose blood is on the paper. But I'd say it's pretty obvious that the blood belongs to the victim."

The Crimson Blaze put the papers back into the folder. "To me, it definitely seems like Heisuke's the killer. Stabbed in his house, fingerprints on the knife, and seen at the river…maybe Masaki wanted to steal the evidence from Azuma's safe to prove that his brother's innocent? No, that wouldn't make sense, because if he stole it, that would mean he wouldn't want it to go through tests, which would pretty much make his brother guilty." _But then that contradicts my theory of the blood being the victim's…let's say the blood was actually the killer's, and not hers…then if the paper was stolen, no one would know who the blood belonged to, and the case would be closed with Heisuke branded a murderer. But if they took tests, they'd immediately know who the real killer was. If that were the case, than Masaki Sakurai would have no reason to steal the paper…_

She started to scribble things on some refill.

**Blood is Mika Harada + Left there = Heisuke Sakurai Guilty**

**Blood is Mika Harada + Stolen = Heisuke Sakurai innocent for the time being/postponed**

**Blood isn't Mika Harada/is killer's + Left there = Heisuke Sakurai Not Guilty**

**Blood isn't Mika Harada/is killer's + Stolen = Heisuke Sakurai Guilty**

She tapped the pen onto the table. "Either way, we don't know who the blood belongs to, which means the case will have to be postponed because we don't have the other half. But what I'm curious about, is what the words said on the paper…too hard to read."

_Only way to find out is to talk to Yunoki again…I really don't want to but…_

•

"What does Detective Hino want from me now?" Azuma was walking at a fast pace, through the Detective Department corridors.

"The evidence-the bloody paper, what were the words on it?" she asked.

"The words? Why would you want to know something like that?" he didn't slow down.

"Curious."

"I'm afraid it's none of your business. This is my case, and I'll solve it myself."

"I really don't have the time for your stubbornness, _Detective_ Yunoki. Trust me, I could forget about this, and do something better with my life, but you've already given me half of the information, and I never like leaving things unfinished." She pressed on.

"Someone like you has something better to do with your life?" he snickered.

"Actually, I do." She glared at him.

"Like what? Going on a date with that dog boy?"

"Er…dog boy?"

"Hihara Kazuki…" he said the name with bitterness.

"I assure you, Mr. Hihara and I's relationship is nothing but friendship." Her eyes narrowed. "And why should you care?"

"Then what's 'Kaho-Chan' this, 'Kaho-Chan' that?"

"Okay, now you're just changing the subject, Yunoki!" she stopped in front of him. "I'm not moving until you tell me."

He sighed. "Expect the unexpected, and Unexpect the expected."

"What?" she blinked.

"That was what was on the paper. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

"Wait, wait, wait!" she blocked his path again. "Are you trying to get Heisuke Sakurai guilty, or not guilty?!"

"Neither. I'm simply collecting evidence as a detective-that is my job." He tried to step pass her, but she got in the way again.

"What about Masaki Sakurai? Do you think he's the one who stole the evidence?"

"My opinion doesn't matter in this case."

"Well, do you?"

"…I know he's not the one who did it. Now, if you'd just move…"

"How can you be so sure?" she looked at him in the eye.

"…Miss Hino, you said you don't have the time for my stubbornness, and I simply don't have the time for yours either." He held the impatience back.

"How. Can. You. Be. So. Sure?" she repeated the words slowly, as if speaking to a child.

"There would be no need for Masaki to steal the evidence, because his brother is innocent." Azuma folded his arms.

"Huh? You mean…you've already sorted out BOTH cases?!" she grabbed his shoulders, and shook him. _So fast…it's only been a few hours!_

He brushed her hands off, and walked pass her, while smiling. "Detective Hino, you should know me well by now. Before I put the papers in the safe, I had already run it through tests. The blood…belongs to the killer; it's not Mika Harada's. Which means that if it was stolen, the thief must want Heisuke Sakurai guilty."

Hino was left there dumbfounded. "It takes me at least a day to solve a case…and it takes him only three hours?" She stared at his back, as he walked out of the Detective Department. "Well, he's also nicknamed the Azure Shadow for his knowledge and secrecy, but there's also the Lilac Prince for his wealth, appearance, and personality…" _Pssh, he should be nicknamed Azuma the Akuma._

•

"Masaki Sakurai, correct?" Azuma flashed a bright smile at the officer who was tied up.

"Ah…Detective Yunoki…" he looked up.

"Untie him, he's innocent."

"What? But sir, what evidence do you have…?" the police glanced at Yunoki worriedly.

"I have none, but I know he's innocent. Because, Mr. Sakurai here is going to escort me to the security camera room, and he can't do that when he's tied to his chair, right?"

•

The camera footage showed Masaki Sakurai not leaving his assigned post at all. He stayed there throughout the whole night, until a dark shadow hit his head with a baseball bat. He was knocked out, the key was stolen, and the dark shadow entered Yunoki's room, unlocking the safe, and taking the paper which was split in half. "And there you have it. Masaki Sakurai is innocent."

Masaki beamed. "Thank you so much, Detective Yunoki! I'm forever grateful to you!"

"So, tell me, Mr. Sakurai, who was it that hit you?" Yunoki leaned on the wall.

"Well…he was Mika Harada's ex-boyfriend, Jun Sakisaka." Masaki answered honestly. "I never imagined he'd go so far as to murder…"

Yunoki raised an eyebrow. "Jun Sakisaka, huh…?"

•

_Yunoki tracked down this Jun Sakisaka pretty fast; probably through connections. Officers and him had surrounded Jun, and he confessed that he was the one who murdered Mika, and he was also the one who stole the evidence from Azuma's office; trying to frame Heisuke. Yunoki proved to the court that Heisuke was innocent, and Heisuke had a nice brother reunion with Masaki. Everything turned out well in the end-except for the fact that I didn't get any new cases…well, there's always another day. To be honest, I didn't expect that someone would actually have the guts to steal something from THE Yunoki Azuma's office, but then again, Expect the unexpected, and Unexpect the expected._

She then placed the papers into a folder, and grabbed a stamp from one of her drawers. It was a stamp with red ink, and words in capital letters. She gripped its handle, and pressed down on the surface of the plain brown folder.

_**CASE CLOSED**_

**-End Of Chapter Six-**

* * *

Phew, a quick case! Good job, Yunoki :D  
What I hate the most, is creating names for people…I sit there for like ten minutes, just thinking of a name for victims, suspects, witnesses, etc. Lol…

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	7. The Stolen Melody

I'd like to thank all of those people who have reviewed: xXThe Girl In WonderlandXx, MinaBlahBlahAnimeFan, 8ouji-Rui, onliafaze, -Hime.o0, Sphinx, moot3100, Mozzymoo62, Kate, Guest, NativeInkHeart23, Yapqin and Hachiouji Rui

And all of those who have favorite and alerted: 8ouji-Rui, FaiOtaku, MinaBlahBlahAnimeFan, Mozzymoo62, jadez123, moot3100, xXThe Girl In WonderlandXx, Amuto4Lifee, Native-Ink23 & iwha

Thank you very much you guys! :D

** xXThe Girl In WonderlandXx:  
**Thanks for defining fluffy for me :3

** MinaBlahBlahAnimeFan:**  
I think ALL the males that come across Hino are going to be considered love rivals for Azuma xD

Enjoy reading, and I hope you guys aren't getting nightmares from my mysteries LOL o.o

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 4: The Stolen Melody**

-Part 1-

_~One's desire for greed~_

_Ring, ring, ring, goes the phone. "Hello?" a rough voice answers the call. "How is it?" the man with the rough voice sat in the audience, amused. "It's worth it. Can't you hear the sound?" the beautiful melody filled the concert hall, and then paused. An eruption of applause arrived, and the man continued talking. "How about…tonight?" "It's a done deal." The well-known cellist rubbed his eyes sleepily, it was morning already. He opened his instrument's case, and for the first time in his life, he was shocked. "It's…gone."_

"Hino-San?" Azuma knocked on her office door.

"No one loves you, Yunoki. Go away." Came the reply.

He opened it anyways, "I'd like to speak with y-" A pillow came flying at his head. He dodged, and glanced at her.

"Why?! Why?! Why?!" she ruffled her hair, and sat back on her chair.

"Anything I can assist with?"

"No, and I thought I told you to go away!" she glared at him.

The lilac prince strolled up to her desk. "Oh?" he looked at the magazine she was reading. "The famous cellist-Shimizu Keiichi is in Japan, and will be performing tonight." He read aloud.

"Damn this salary…" Hino kept pushing buttons on her calculator.

"Ah. I understand now."

She halted. "What?"

"You want to see his concert, and yet, you can't buy tickets because you're broke, isn't that right, _Kahoko_?"

"…" Dead right. "God damn it, Azuma, I hate you!" she slammed her fists on the desk.

Azuma merely flicked his wrist, and showed Kahoko something in his hand, right in front of her face. "I came to talk to you about this."

The redhead froze. "Are…Are those…?"

"I see you're still a lover of music." He waved the parts of paper in his hand. "Two of them, you and I."

"Tickets…to Shimizu Keiichi's…concert?!" she grabbed the tickets, and stared at them.

"Still regretting I walked in here?"

"I love you, Yunoki!" she jumped up and down.

"So, first of all, you don't hate me, and second of all, someone does love me." He smirked.

"How did you get these?" she gave him back the tickets, and tried to calm down.

He put them in his pocket. "Money. Naturally."

"Hold on a second." She put a hand in front of her. "There must be some sort of catch to this."

"Hm? Catch?"

"Why would the famous and 'oh-so-handsome' Yunoki Azuma, invite ME to a concert?"

"Because I'm a nice person?"

"…No, I bet you want to blackmail me later."

"I wouldn't do such a thing."

"Of course you wouldn't." she rolled her eyes.

"Hino-San, are you coming or not?"

"I'm going, I'm absolutely going!"

"Even though I'm going with you?" he smiled.

"…Darn, I completely forgot about you." She sighed.

"…" he folded his arms. "I'm not leaving your office until you say yes."

"Fine, yes. I'll go to the concert with YOU."

"That's more like it." he walked out of her office. "I'll pick you up at five, don't be late."

•

"I don't know…it vanished." said the sleepy cellist.

"Where were the bodyguards I set up in front of your room?!" said his manager.

"They were there." replied Keiichi.

"Ugh! How are we supposed to have a concert, if you don't even have your cello?!" the female manager stomped off angrily.

Keiichi sighed, sat down, and unfolded a newspaper to read. "Famous Detective Yunoki Azuma & The Crimson Blaze…?"

He read the article aloud to himself, "Might have a relationship together…solved every case successfully…hmm…?"

Shimizu paused. "…Manager?"

She sighed, and walked over to him. "What is it, Shimizu? I'm very busy trying to solve the mystery of your cello."

He pointed to the newspaper article, and she read it. She clicked her fingers. "Brilliant! Call them at once!"

•

"Yes! A Case!" cheered Kahoko. _Today has got to be the best day ever!_

She got into the car, and headed to the designated place.

•

"Hm…someone requesting me? Tell them I'll take it." Azuma fake smiled, and headed into his fancy black car. "To Fuyumi Hotel, please."

•

"What…What…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Kahoko pointed at Azuma.

"It seems we're both working on the same case, Hino-San." replied Azuma, with ease.

"Hello, nice to meet you two. My name is Minami Sayaka. I am Shimizu Keiichi's manager."

"D-Did you say THE Shimizu Keiichi?!" Hino was amazed.

"Yes, I did. The information and case I'm about to inform you two about is strictly confidential, so if you are taking the case, please sign your name here." She handed the two a contract.

"You're expecting us to sign a contract to a case we don't even know about? I don't think I can trust this." smiled Azuma.

Kahoko was just about to sign it, because it was related to Shimizu, but then paused. "He has a point. Why should we take up a case we don't even know about?"

"…You'll get free tickets to his concert tonight."

_Free tickets to his concert tonight? That means I don't have to go with Azuma!_ "I'll do-"

Yunoki put his arm around Hino's waist. "I'm sorry, Miss Minami, but we've already bought tickets."

She sighed. "There might not even be a concert tonight."

"What?!" Hino stared at the manager.

"That's all I can say, until you've signed it."

The two signed it, and gave the paper to the manager. She led them to a room, and there were two couches placed opposite each other, with a table in between. Very fancy.

Shimizu Keiichi sat on one, he looked like he was about to doze off. The manager sat next to Keiichi, and instructed the detectives sit on the soda opposite them. They did so.

"Where shall I begin?"

"From the beginning." smiled Azuma.

Kahoko was sitting directly across THE Shimizu Keiichi, and she couldn't help but want to wake him up and ask for his autograph.

"Hino Kahoko…and Yunoki Azuma…" Keiichi then rubbed his eyes, and looked at them. "The Detectives In Love?"

"WHAAATT?!" Kahoko jumped up. "D-Detectives in love?! Me and him?! No way!"

Azuma raised an eyebrow. "That's just a rumor, Shimizu-Kun."

"Ah…I see…"

The manager cleared her throat. "Er-hem. This case is regarding Keiichi's cello. It has gone missing." She put the hollow case onto the table, and the cello was gone.

Hino gasped. "Missing…?!

"Someone stole it, and we would like you two to find out who the culprit is, and why they did it."

"If that's the case, you might as well get the police to do it." replied Azuma.

"But we also want you two to get the cello back."

"…" the two detectives froze.

"Something wrong?" asked Sayaka.

"Well…" Hino cautiously glanced at Azuma.

"Not exactly." Azuma returned the glance to Hino.

"Then why the silence?"

Kahoko sighed, and leaned back. "You see, we-I don't like this guy very much, so our teamwork is horrible." She pointed at Azuma. "But nonetheless, if we work together on a case, the paperwork and ordering the officers and forensics around is fine. Same with gathering evidence and all but…"

Azuma finished it off. "Asking both of us to do fieldwork for you is almost impossible."

"But this is a crisis! Keiichi needs his cello by tonight!"

"Tonight? That really doesn't give us that much time." Hino folded her arms.

"But aren't you two known as the best and fastest detectives in Japan?!" the managed was almost about to blow her fuse.

Kahoko rolled her eyes. "It's not that we don't want to do it, we just can't."

"I don't understand!" The managed stood up, and looked down onto the two.

Keiichi then spoke up. "Miss Minami…it's because the two aren't partners."

"Excuse me?" she looked at Keiichi.

"Hino-San isn't partners with Yunoki-San. When they do fieldwork, I assume they usually go solo, but you're asking them to work together…it wouldn't work. It would be like putting a cat and a dog into a maze, then asking them to work together to get out of the maze…" answered Keiichi.

"Exactly like that, Shimizu-San! I really admire you, can I have your autograph?!" Hino gave him a paper and pen.

"Of course, Miss Hino…" he smiled angelically at her, and wrote down his signature.

Azuma held in the anger. _I'm not jealous. Not at all._ "So, you see, Miss Minami, if Hino-San and I were given weapons, and went to look for the culprit…if there were fighting involved, we could accidentally shoot each other in the head because of the lack of teamwork."

She sighed. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"I have a proposal!" Kahoko stood up. "Please let us examine Shimizu-San's room!"

"If it's only looking, then that's fine. But we will not allow forensics."

"…You've got to be kidding." Kahoko dropped back into her seat.

"It is Keiichi's personal room, and we cannot allow it to turn into a science project!"

"Miss Minami, this is a crisis, like you said. We must be able to conduct some forensics on important parts of the room, or else we won't receive any evidence." Azuma tried his lady-killer smile.

"Y-Yes, however…" the manager lady adjusted her glasses. "We'd need to acquire permission from the Fuyumi's…"

"Fuyumi?" blinked Kahoko.

"Getting permission from the Fuyumi's is something I can handle, please leave it to me." His smile never disappeared.

"F-Fine! If you c-can get permission from them, then, that's when I-I will let y-y-you…examine his room…!" the manager was obviously nearly about to faint because of Azuma's smile.

"Thank you very much." Azuma bowed.

"…That smile is dangerous." Kahoko averted her eyes.

"What was that?" The purple prince glanced at her.

"N-Nothing!"

•

"H-Hello, this is Fuyumi Shouko speaking." The shy girl with green hair held the phone next to her ear, her hand quivering.

"Ah, Fuyumi-San, this is Yunoki Azuma. I don't know if you remember me, since the last time we met was quite a while ago, but I need to ask a favor of you."

"May I ask w-what it is about?" she tried her best to keep talking, without stuttering.

"One of the hotels your company owns…yes, that's the one. I'd like permission…you will? A condition, you say…? Mhm. Yes. Okay, understood. I'll put your case first thing on my list, after I'm finished with this one. No, no, thank you. Have a good day." Azuma hung up.

"What'd she say?" Hino entered the room.

"She said as long as you go on a date with me, then we can do whatever we want with his room."

"…Seriously, Yunoki. That's not funny." She glared at him.

"Haha, I was just kidding. She said she'll let us do as we wish, on one condition." He folded his arms.

"What is it?"

"We solve her case, right after we're done with this."

"Eh…? A rich person having problems? That's rare."

"Shimizu Keiichi's a rich person, and he's having problems with his cello." pointed out Azuma.

"…Point taken. Did she say WE have to do the case, or just YOU?"

"Just me, but I could use some assistance." He smiled at her.

"…Forget it." she flicked her hair, and strolled into the elevator.

Yunoki was making his way to the elevator, but Hino kept spamming the 'close door' button. _CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE NOW!_

The door was slowly closing, and it was nearly fully shut, but then Yunoki grabbed a nearby book from a shelf, and put it in between the doors, which obviously made the doors re-open. He then put the book down, and walked in. "Nice try, Hino-San." He flashed a bright smile at her.

The doors were reclosing, and Hino spammed the 'open door' button. "I think I'll take the stairs after all…"

Yunoki grabbed her wrist, and pulled her towards him, as the doors finally closed fully. "Is there a problem being in the same elevator as me, Kahoko?" he pressed her against the wall.

"I can think of at least a million problems with being in the same elevator as Yunoki Azuma." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh? Well, then that means there's over a billion reasons to be in an elevator with Yunoki Azuma." His face was centimeters away from hers.

"Y-Yunoki…don't you think this is a bit…close?" she found it harder to speak with him so near.

"Is it uncomfortable for you?" he had that same playful look in his eyes.

"W-Well, of course…!" her face was red, and her heart was racing. _He's probably just teasing you again, Kahoko! Don't fall for it!_

"If that's the case then…"

_Ding!_ The elevator doors opened. "Tch…" Azuma let go of her, and walked out as if nothing happened.

"Sheesh…what was that?!" Kahoko stomped her foot, annoyed and flustered, but after she cooled down, she headed to Shimizu's Hotel room.

The room was just like any normal hotel room, and Azuma & Kahoko examined for hours, but found nothing. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

The two detectives sighed. "This…might be a pretty difficult case after all…"

**-End Of Chapter Seven-**

* * *

Finished chapter 7~

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	8. The Recovered Cello

Hey hey, late chapter, huzzah! \o/ At least there was even an update, sheesh… .''' DON'T FLAME, DON'T FLAME! I TAKE IT BACK! TT^TT

** To 0****o . Kuruizaki-Hime . o0**  
Yep, Kahoko did just naturally call him Azuma. It's either because I made a small mistake, or because she was raging at him and forgot about manners-well, to be honest, I don't really remember, so I'll leave it to you to decide lol. And sorry, what would've happened if the elevator doors hadn't opened in time is top secret! :P [In other words, I, myself, does not know. *Cough* You saw nothing]

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

* * *

**Case 4: The Recovered Cello**

-Part 2-

_Previously:_

"_Tickets…to Shimizu Keiichi's…concert?!" she grabbed the tickets, and stared at them._

"_I don't know…it vanished." said the sleepy cellist._

"_Hino Kahoko…and Yunoki Azuma…" Keiichi then rubbed his eyes, and looked at them. "The Detectives In Love?"_

"_Exactly like that, Shimizu-San! I really admire you, can I have your autograph?!" Hino gave him a paper and pen._

"_Haha, I was just kidding. She said she'll let us do as we wish, on one condition." Azuma folded his arms._

_Yunoki was making his way to the elevator, but Hino kept spamming the 'close door' button. CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE NOW!_

_Yunoki was making his way to the elevator, but Hino kept spamming the 'close door' button. CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE NOW!_

_The two detectives sighed. "This…might be a pretty difficult case after all…"_

•

Hino was ready to flip the table. "We've searched every nook and cranny of this room, and still the same results-NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY!"

"Calm down, Hino-San. Everything will be alright." Azuma patted her of the back.

"CALM?! HOW CAN YOU SAY EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE?! THIS CASE HAS TO BE SOLVED BY TONIGHT!"

"Well, to be honest, I just thought you were going to have a seizure, so I tried to calm you down. Guess I was wrong." He laughed.

"Yunoki, you make jokes at the worst times possible." She shot him a glare.

Keiichi lifted up his empty cello case. "Can't you two get forensics and see if there are fingerprints on this cello case?"

The two detectives froze. _How could we have not thought of that?! It was so obvious! And we're professionals too!_

Azuma sighed. _It's Hino's fault. She's distracting me, since she's so fun to tease._

Kahoko face palmed. _It's Yunoki's fault. He's annoying me._ She then put on a bright fake smile. "Ah, you're a genius, Shimizu-Kun! Of course we'll do that."

They immediately got forensics, and saw that there were no fingerprints on the cello.

"Probably leather gloves." Azuma mumbled.

…_Leather gloves?_ Hino looked at the corner of her eye, and saw a hotel worker about to take Shimizu's rubbish bag out. The redhead immediately yelled, "STOP!"

The hotel worker jumped up in fright, then glanced at the female detective. "S-Something I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually. Would you be a kind little man, and open that rubbish bag for me?" she flashed a smile.

Hino could hear Yunoki's muffled laugh, then his voice, "Haha, oh Hino-San, I never knew you were as desperate as to search even the rubbish…!"

She cringed, but ignored him, as she looked into the rubbish bag. "Hm? Aren't these…leather gloves?" Hino took the gloves out, and was about to question the hotel worker, but he was gone. _Hold on a second…how did a hotel worker get into Shimizu-Kun's room when it's an unauthorized person area now…?_

Hino abruptly threw the leather gloves at the lilac prince, and dashed out of the room, skidding at corners, and was just in time to see the elevator doors close with the hotel worker inside it. "Tch…!" she had no choice, but to take the stairs. And that's what she did. She ran down those stairs at the speed of light, and reached the ground floor. Unfortunately, the elevator doors were already open, and there was no one inside. The detective ran out of the building, but saw no one wearing the hotel worker uniform. She frowned, and sighed. "I let him escape…"

•

Hino walked through Keiichi's door, and murmured gloomily, "I'm back…"

Azuma was sitting at the table, reading newspaper, and drinking tea. He lowered the newspaper, and smiled. "Welcome back, sweetheart. Would you like a bath, some food, or perhaps, me?"

"…" The redhead walked out of the room, and slammed the door. After a good minute, she reopened the door, and Azuma was in the same position.

"Ah, Hino-San, you still haven't answered my questi-"

She slammed the door once again, and she could hear Azuma cracking up. She glared at the door, and tried to open it again. But she couldn't. _Did he lock it?_ She pushed on it harder, but it didn't budge. _Or is he blocking the door with objects, such as the chair…?_ Kahoko took a few steps back, and was ready to run into the door with her shoulder, but then, the door opened slightly; just a gap. Hino raised an eyebrow, and tiptoed up to the crack, and took a peek, only to see someone else's eye. She gasped, and jumped back. "T-T-T-Tha-!"

The perfect man laughed even harder, as the door fully opened. "Ahahaha! You must fall into every trap I lay down! Hahaha!"

Hino was clutching her chest. "It's not funny! You scared the life out of me!"

"You're still talking, so you must be alright." He wiped tears of laughter away from his eyes, and shut the door again.

"HEY!" Hino slammed herself into the door to open it again, but it was still tightly closed. "Yunoki, open the door!" she was just about to run into the door again, however the door opened, and instead she fell into the arms of Yunoki Azuma.

He smirked. "The door's open."

Kahoko's vein was about to pop. "I MEANT OPEN THE DOOR, NOT OPEN YOUR ARMS!"

Azuma tilted his head to the side, as he held her firmly. "I opened the door, and I opened my arms. Isn't it welcoming?"

"…I don't like you." She whispered.

"Oh, how I love you so, _Kahoko_." He laughed evilly.

She shivered as he said her name, and tried to push him away from her. "Yunoki, let go…"

"What's the magic word?"

"Please?" she tried.

"Why does everybody think the magic word is 'please', seriously?" he rolled his eyes.

"Well, what is it then?"

"We learn this as kids, you should know the magic word."

Hino tried to think. "Yunoki is awesome?"

"I'd rather a 'I love you, Yunoki-Sama~❤' but no, that's not it." He grinned.

"UGH, WHAT IS IT THEN?!"

He stroked her cheek with his hand. "Do you really want to know?"

She pulled her head back. "I don't know if I want to now…"

Keiichi walked out of the bathroom, and stared at the two detectives. "I'm sorry to interrupt…"

"Gah, Shimizu-Kun!" Hino jumped out of Azuma's arms, just as he quickly let go of her.

Yunoki laughed. "Oh, no, Shimizu-Kun. You weren't interrupting anything." _Shimizu-Kun, you interrupted EVERYTHING._

Hino folded her arms, "A-Anyways, do you still have the leather gloves I threw at you?"

"No, I don't." the purple-haired detective replied.

"What?!" she gasped.

"I threw them out the window."

"You're not good at lying." She grabbed the leather gloves that were sitting on the bed.

"And neither are you." He smiled, then looked at her. "Why did you suddenly run out, anyways?"

Hino sat down on the couch. "Obviously because that hotel worker who was about to take the trash out was involved with this case!"

"…And he got away?" Azuma raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if I had caught him, I would've had him with me right now, right?" she rolled her eyes.

Yunoki shook his head. "Great. Back to no leads again."

Kahoko then looked at the leather gloves. "Not exactly 'no leads'. We have the gloves, don't forget. I'm sure if we get the forensics to conduct tests on the gloves, we'll get results."

Keiichi the pointed at the gloves. "I thought that if you're wearing gloves…you won't leave fingerprints behind…?"

The Crimson Blaze smirked. "But didn't you know that leather is the best material to leave imprints behind? It's simple. We can just turn the gloves inside out, and take the fingerprints from the _inside_ part of the gloves."

The rich man played with the tips of his hair. "However, don't you think it was a bit…unintelligent for a person related to the case-or even the suspect at that, to _come back_ to the crime scene for the important evidence they left behind? I reckon that was pretty risky and careless."

Kahoko laughed, and flung the gloves over her shoulder. "That's a sign saying the opposing side is desperate."

There was a knock on the door, and Shimizu's manager entered. "Ugh, I'm back."

"Welcome back, Minami-San." Yunoki smiled angelically. "Is there something wrong?"

"Actually, yes. Who in their right mind would leave their clothes on the ground?!" the manager fumed in disgust.

"…Clothes?" Hino looked at her.

"Yes! Clothes! In the elevator!" The manager dusted herself off. "I mean, imagine how filthy it could've been! You don't know what's been on those…clothes!"

The redhead tilted her side to the left. Then to the right. Then froze. "Oh my…"

The three turned to her. "What is it?"

She pushed them out of the way, as she ran to the elevators; she then pressed the 'open' button rapidly, until both elevator doors opened in front of her. Inside the elevator to her right were clothes on the floor, just as Minami had stated. But they weren't any ordinary clothes. It was the Fuyumi Hotel's worker uniform.

"You're kidding…right?" she rubbed her temples, and tried to remember. _I ran out of the room, saw the elevator doors close with the suspicious person inside. Then, ran down the stairs, down to the lobby, and saw no one had ran out of the building with worker clothes on…but then I took the lift back up, and there were no clothes there. _Hino paused. _Hold on a second. Rewind back to when he entered the elevator. Which elevator did he take…the left, or the right?_ All of a sudden, the knowledge rushed to her brain. She clicked her fingers. "That's it!"

Minami, Yunoki, and Shimizu then appeared in front of her. "What's so interesting about the elevators, Hino-San?"

"I'm a total idiot!" she hit her head.

_You only just realize that now?_ Yunoki cleared his throat. "Why do you say that?"

"It was so obvious!"

"What was, Miss Hino?" Minami folded her arms.

The female detective grabbed a whiteboard and a whiteboard pen from god knows where, and started to draw a stick figure. "Beautiful, isn't it? What can I say…I've always been a pro in art."

Yunoki resisted the urge to face palm, and instead, tapped his foot. "Explain?"

"Okay, eyes on the board. I ran out of the room." Hino drew a box, signalling the hotel room, and she then pointed at the stick figure, signalling her. "Next, I saw the elevator doors close. Now, here's the vital part-the runner took the right elevator." She drew two rectangles, one labelled L, and one labelled R. "I took the stairs, and while I was busy doing that, the runner inside the elevator quickly took off his hotel uniform disguise. Then, just as the doors open, he runs out. But I also reached the ground floor just after him, however I did not recognize him in the crowd, why is that?"

Keiichi shrugged. "You didn't get a good look at his face…maybe?"

"Wrong, nice try though."

Azuma then said, "Basically, you're saying you didn't recognize him because what your eyes were looking for was the uniform, not some casual outfit. You thought he was a passer-by, and you didn't even know."

Hino nodded. "You're right. In fact, I did see him pass me." She had a small flash back of a man's shoulder brushing past hers. "And I didn't even give a second thought. Back to my explanation, I took the elevators back up to Shimizu-Kun's room, but how come I didn't see the hotel uniform?"

Yunoki took the whiteboard pen out of her hands, and drew arrows to direct the situation. "The suspect took the right elevator down, however, you took the left elevator up. A simple trick, one that almost anyone could fall into."

Minami Sayaka adjusted her glasses, "To put it simply, Miss Hino thought he took the left elevator, but he actually took the right, correct?"

"That is correct." nodded Yunoki.

"Well, surely you're seen this man's face now! What are we waiting for?! We only have a few more hours until the concert starts!" she tapped her foot.

Hino's vein was about to pop. _This manager…she should be thankful that we're even helping her!_ "Fine, fine, we get it. You want us to hurry up and find the one who has the cello right? Okay then, good bye!" she walked out of the building, clearly annoyed.

"My, what rude manners!" Minami crossed her arms. "Not impressed!"

The two faced detective smiled. "Please forgive Hino-San, Miss Minami; she's probably just feeling stressed out. If you'd excuse me…" he fast walked after Kahoko, and managed to catch her enter a car, he then quickly got into the car as well.

"Nearly left without me, Hino-San." He chuckled.

"Whatever." She brushed it off. _I really don't have time for his 'smart' remarks._

"What are we going to do now?" he questioned. "Bring the gloves to the forensics?"

"That's right. And we're going to need them to work ten times faster-hey, driver, step on it please."

The driver nodded at Kahoko's request, then gained speed.

Kahoko leaned back in the chair. "After we drop off the gloves, I'm going to go out and do some fieldwork."

"I'll come with you." Yunoki insisted.

"Are you kidding? We had this talk before! You and I in the field together is just-"

"Don't argue. I'm coming with you, and that's final." He glared at her.

"Well then, I'll just have to shake you off." She glared back.

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to, _Kahoko_?" his voice turned icy, but Kahoko wasn't afraid. Not this time.

"Who I'm talking to? Oh, I believe it's Mr. Stalker." She folded her arms.

"…Very funny." Yunoki couldn't deny that, because he does stalk her-I mean, check up on her, sometimes.

Hino clapped her hands together, satisfied she won the word battle for once. "Shall we get a move on then?"

•

"I drive you to a whole lot of different places, for no apparent reason, and now we're sitting in this car, doing nothing. Wonderful." Yunoki rolled his eyes, as he turned off his luxurious car engines.

"No one said you had to get out your car. We could've just stayed in that taxi from before." Hino pointed out, as she looked out of the window from the passenger seat next to him.

"If I knew we were going around randomly, trust me, I would've stayed in the taxi. I'm definitely not going to be your personal taxi driver, and I definitely cannot afford to waste time sitting here, doing nothing." He argued back.

"It's not wasting time, Yunoki. It's called a stakeout." Hino grabbed a pair of binoculars.

"…" he stared at her. "How long have you had those for?"

"I believe the question you're supposed to ask first is, where I got them from, but nonetheless, I've had these for ages."

"Okay, now where?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It's amazing what you can find in a jacket pocket, isn't it?" she peered through the small holes.

He tilted his head to the side, and dug into his jacket pockets. Nothing out of the ordinary. "You must keep really strange things inside your coat…"

"Not weird. Handy." She corrected.

Yunoki folded his arms, and sat back. "Remind me what we're doing here? Come to think of it, where are we?"

"I thought out of all the people I knew, you'd know." She glanced at him. "I guess I overestimated you."

He examined the area, and saw a few signs. "Ah, we're near the…" he froze. "Detective Hino, I suggest we turn around."

"Scared?" she smirked at him.

He lowered his voice. "You must be out of your mind! This area is clearly a place where we don't belong!"

"I thought you came here regularly." She looked at him strangely.

"What do you see me as? A drug dealer? An illegal trader? This is outrageous!" he glared at her.

"Well, the best place to look is the most dangerous." She shrugged. "A place where no one else will go…"

"This is illegal grounds, Kahoko. Have you gone mad?!" Yunoki shook her shoulders.

She flicked his hands off. "Big deal, we're just outside of the black market, who gives?! We've got to get this cello back before tonight, and if we always stay away in safe areas, we're not going to get anything accomplished!"

Yunoki sighed, and shook his head. "We're leaving." He started the engines.

Hino yanked the car keys out. "No, we're staying!"

"Kahoko…" he looked her in the eye.

"Azuma…" she glared harder.

"Give me back the keys, now. I'm doing this for your own safety."

"You know very well that I can handle myself! I don't need your protection anymore!" she yelled at him.

"Don't be foolish, you'll always need my protection! Ever since I met you, you've always needed me! Now hand over the keys!" he started to raise his own voice.

"I'm not the weak little girl you met back in high school, Yunoki! We're staying here, and I'm not changing my mind!"

"Hino, stop being so stubborn!"

"No, no, no-YOU stop being stubborn!" she pulled the keys away from him.

A couple of gangsters walked by, and groaned aloud, "Ugh, seriously man? I hate married couples!"

His partner then sighed. "Hey, I hear you. All they ever do is have stupid love quarrels…"

The first one spoke again, while looking at the two detectives argue in the car. "Please, why don't they just get a divorce already? Sheesh!"

Kahoko overheard this, and was about to shout 'MARRIED COUPLE?!', but then Yunoki pulled her away from the window.

"Don't even think about speaking to them! People like that is what gets us involved in serious trouble!" he warned.

"Oh, please, Yunoki! Trouble or not, I'm _always_ involved in trouble!"

"I'm trying to avoid another argument with you…" he tapped his foot.

"Fine, avoid it all you want!" she shot sharp glares at him.

"I am, you're just trying to make things worse; what are you, stupid?" he laughed evilly, looking down on her.

"Stupid?! Weren't you the one who was just saying you wanted to avoid an argument?! Well, look at yourself! You've just created another one!"

"No, you're just taking it that way. _You're_ the one who's creating another one."

"Ugh! I'm sick of you! I always was!" she messed up her own hair. "This is the reason why I didn't want to do fieldwork with you! Our teamwork is the compatibility of zero!"

"Right back at you. I don't even understand why we're getting so worked up over…over nothing!"

"You tell me, genius!" she spat at him.

"What was that?!" he glared at her.

"Hey, Yunoki…" Kahoko then stopped looking at him, and was looking at something behind him instead.

"Oh, let me guess…now you're trying to change the subject? We're not done talking." He said, frustrated.

"No…it's a walking cello!" she pointed behind him.

He rolled his eyes. "Kahoko, cellos can't walk. I knew you were going mad-"

She grabbed his head, and forced him to turn around and look.

The couple could see a cello head bobbing up and down, into the black market.

Yunoki paused. "Oh…my. It really is a walking cello…"

Hino slammed the car doors open. "Quickly, after it!"

•

"Which way?!" Yunoki shouted out to the Crimson Blaze.

"Right! No, wait, left! No…right! Jokes, middle…um…" she hurriedly glanced around.

"You seriously have no sense direction…that's probably how someone like you took the left elevator, instead of the-"

"That was all in the past, it's right, now let's go!" she grabbed his arm, and dragged him.

He sighed. "I'm seriously concerned…"

•

After what felt likes hours of running, the two busted into a building, causing them to receive weird looks.

Hino laughed it off, and quickly snuck over to stand in the darkest corner with Yunoki.

The Lilac Prince whispered to her, "Are you sure this is where the cello is?"

"Almost positive." She nodded. "…Can't you hear it?"

"I assume you're talking about imaginary voices now? We really do need to get you to a doctor." He replied, calmly.

She slapped him on the back. "No, I was talking about the sound of a cello!"

He paused, and listened carefully. Faintly, he could hear a cello string being plucked. "Ah…that."

"Exactly." She looked around. "What is this place, anyways?"

"Hmm…I think we'll find out shortly."

A man walked into the room, cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly, and then announced, "Welcome to the annual black market auction, everyone. Great to see old and new faces here." The man rolled his eyes. "Anyways, we're not here to get friendly, we're all here to buy stuff, right? Let's get on with it." He clicked his fingers, and a couple other guys brought various items and objects onto the stage.

"An auction?!" Hino glanced at Yunoki.

"Figures…"

"Hey, Yunoki, how much money do you have on you…?"

He smiled. "That's a secret, My dear Kahoko."

"I'm not a deer, Yunoki…!" she went back to watching the man.

"I said 'my dear', the one spelt with an A, not an E."

"I know, I was just…you know what? Forget it."

"The first item we present to you today is the alexandrite tiara. Starting price at…" the man held a very beautiful silver tiara with a gemstone that shone with different colors, depending on the lighting.

"That tiara…it must be expensive." Hino admired it.

"And yet, stolen." Yunoki folded his arms. "If I'm correct, that tiara belongs to Princess Crystal."

"We still have Princesses in this time?" she raised an eyebrow.

"As we still have Emperors, yes." Yunoki then thought aloud, "Most of the items here are stolen and valuable. I was thinking maybe I should buy them to return them back, but we're here for the cello, aren't we?"

"That's right. We can get back the other stolen goods later." nodded Hino.

"Going, going…gone! Sold to the lady with number 52! Now, the next item is the Mona Lisa…"

Yunoki sighed. "I wonder how long we'll be here for…"

Hino nudged Yunoki. "Hey, that Mona Lisa painting…aren't there many copies in the world? Couldn't that be a fake?"

"Indeed. But it could be a very good replica, at that." Yunoki explained. "Of course, some people wouldn't be able to tell what is a good fake, and what is the real thing."

After a few more items, the rich brown cello was presented. "Next, we have Shimizu Keiichi's cello!"

"500!" shouted a female's voice.

"700!" yelled a male.

"750!" said another.

Yunoki started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Hino frowned. "We need to get this cello!"

"It's just that…700-750…haha, I've never seen anyone bid like that!"

"900!" said the first female.

"Watch, Hino-San. I'll top them easily." Yunoki stepped forward. "1300."

The whole crowd gasped. "1300?!"

A man stood up. "1500!"

The first woman also stood up. "1800…!"

_Tsk…these people won't give up easily._ Yunoki raised his hand. "2600!"

The man on the stage blinked. "Excuse me, sir…do you even have that much?"

"I wouldn't be bidding that much if I didn't, would I?" Yunoki replied, smartly.

"Oh, yes, of course…continue?"

Everyone else was silent. 2600 was quite a big leap.

"Well then, going, going…"

Kahoko smiled. "We did it!"

"3000!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Yunoki folded his arms. "Then, I'll bid-"

A gun was pressed to the rich man's back. "Don't say another word, or I'll shoot…"

Yunoki smiled. _Predictable._

The redhead gasped. "Yunoki!"

"No more offers? Going, going…"

The Lilac Prince grabbed the unknown man's arm, and twisted it. The man yelped in agony, and dropped the gun. Yunoki picked up the gun, and took out his own gun, while nodding at Hino. She then grabbed out her own gun, and shot a bullet into the air.

_BANG!_

The crowd jumped, and started to scream. Kahoko pointed the gun at the people. "Everybody freeze! The FBI is here!"

The audience had no choice, but to freeze. Yunoki rolled his eyes, and mumbled, "Detective Hino, we're not the FBI…"

"Ssh! Let me stand in the spotlight for once!" Hino shushed him. "Everyone put your hands in the air, and line up against the right wall!"

She watched the people do so. "…I meant the other right, but oh well." She looked at Yunoki. "Called for backup yet?"

"Way ahead of you." He smiled, and took the cello from the stage. "I believe this is ours."

"You can't do that, that's-" the man who was presenting the items grabbed onto Yunoki's leg.

Yunoki pointed the gun at his head. "I'm under orders to take this cello back. However, I'm not under orders to shoot whoever interferes."

"You're…a devil!" the man let go of his leg, clearly afraid.

Hino laughed to herself. _Someone agrees with me!_

The 'hotel worker' Hino saw, suddenly ran past her, and tried to get to the door, but she tripped him up, and he fell face first.

"And where do you think you're going?" Hino picked him up for the collar, and put handcuffs on him. "We're taking you back for interrogation. You'll love it there."

•

Backup had arrived, and all the people were arrested. The two detectives got back into Azuma's fancy car, and Hino turned to face him. "You nearly shot me in the head, back there!"

"Doesn't matter; you have nothing in there, anyways." Azuma laughed, and started the engines.

She whispered, "I don't like you."

"I thought you loved me." He grinned.

"Only because you had the tickets." She folded her arms.

"Still do. And we have the cello in the back, with 1 hour until the concert starts, so I'd say mission accomplished."

"…Does that mean I still have to go to Shimizu-Kun's concert with you?" _Please say no…!_

"Yes."

She hit her head on the window, as he drove through the evening, back to Fuyumi Hotel.

•

Minami gasped. "That…is that…"

Hino smiled, and nodded, as she held the cello out to the manager and cellist. "Shimizu-Kun's cello!"

Keiichi took it, and plucked a few strings. He had a smile plastered on his beautiful face. "This really is my cello…thank you very much, Yunoki-San, Hino-San…I am forever grateful." He bowed very low, to show his respect.

"Oh, Shimizu-Kun, no need to be so polite!" Hino laughed. "I'm just glad the concert won't be cancelled!"

The manager shook the two detective's hands. "Thank you so much for helping us!"

Yunoki flashed a price smile. "Glad to be of service."

Minami almost fainted, and Kahoko rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I better get ready for the show tonight. See you guys later!" she waved, and Kahoko walked out of the hotel.

Yunoki quickly said his farewells, and walked after the redhead. "You seem to be in a rush, Miss Hino?"

"Of course I am. There's only just over half an hour until the concert starts." She fastened her pace.

"Hm…could it be you're jealous?" Yunoki put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" she frowned.

"Don't be shy, I knew you were secretly jealous when I had that killer smile on my face, and Miss Minami almost fainted." He laughed.

"Think what you like, I'm not listening." She groaned. "And remind me why you're walking with me…"

"I like to walk every now and then." He looked at her. "Problem?"

"Nope…none here…" she replied, deadpan.

•

"And I would proudly present the star of the show onto the stage, Shimizu Keiichi!" the MC announced.

Keiichi walked onto the stage with his cello. He sat onto the chair, and got into position; of course, he had remembered all the pieces off by heart. He looked around at the audience, and spotted Hino & Yunoki sitting next to each other near the middle section. Keiichi smiled as he remembered the joy of being reunited with his beloved cello. The angel closed his eyes, took a breath in, and began to play Bach's Suite for Violoncello Solo No.1 in G major. _Yunoki-San and Hino-San…this song is for you two._

Hino leaned back in her chair, and listened to the lovely tune. "Shimizu-Kun's music is professionally beautiful…"

Yunoki nodded in agreement, as his eyes watched the cellist play the big instrument. "He is very talented, indeed."

The Lilac Prince glanced at Kahoko, and couldn't help but smile when he saw the expression on her face. It was the same expression she had first shown him when he played a wonderful flute piece for her back in high school. The expression of amazement in her eyes. One of the expressions he fell in love with first. _If only she would look at me like that again._

•

_I swear I'm going to die soon. The whole case was a huge success, and as a reward, I got to go see Shimizu Keiichi's concert live…however after the concert ended, it wasn't so lovely. I believe he was trying to convince me to give him a goodnight 'kiss' as repayment, but heck…over my dead body. Oh well, at least it was a good ending. We got Keiichi's cello back, his manager was satisfied, Yunoki was…the same as usual, and me? I'm glad I'm not as poor as I used to be, thanks to that case. But wait-I just remembered that I have to help Yunoki solve Fuyumi-San's case next…oh dear, this might not be lovely…_ Hino sighed. _You know what they say, all's well, end's well._

She then placed the papers into a folder, and grabbed a stamp from one of her drawers. It was a stamp with red ink, and words in capital letters. She gripped its handle, and pressed down on the surface of the plain brown folder.

_**CASE CLOSED**_

**-End Of Chapter Eight-**

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Wow…that's one long chapter. *whistles*

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	9. Warning Message

I'm back~ Ish? o.O

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

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**Case 5: Warning Message**

-Part 1-

_~Advice to give, advice to share, but will you heed my words?~_

"_H-Hello, this is Fuyumi Shouko speaking." A handsome voice came from the other end, "Ah, Fuyumi-San, this is Yunoki Azuma. I don't know if you remember me, since the last time we met was quite a while ago, but I need to ask a favor of you." A favor? "May I ask w-what it is about?" "One of the hotels your company owns…" "The one where Shimizu Keiichi is staying?" "Yes, that's the one. I'd like permission to do a thorough examination in his room." "I…I think I can grant you that." "You will?" "But…I do have one condition." Her voice was merely a whisper. "A condition, you say…?" "It all happened a couple nights ago…" A couple nights before…I received a warning message. A warning message that could affect my whole life. I need help. "I'll put your case first thing on my list, after I'm finished with this one. Have a good day."_

•

"Wake up, Hino-San." said a smooth voice.

"Five more minutes…" the redhead groaned.

"If you don't wake up now, I'll be forced to kiss you, _Kahoko_." Azuma leaned in.

"I'M AWAKE!" Kahoko jumped in her chair. "That was some weird dream…" she rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you were in it!" she grinned.

"Even better." Azuma smirked. "What was I doing in your dream?"

"You were a girl, and I was shocked, then I laughed and said: I knew it all along! And then I woke up." she explained briefly.

"…" _I…was a girl?_ His eyebrow twitched.

Kahoko yawned. "Anyways, what do you want, and what are you doing in my office?"

"Well…" he tapped his watch.

"Hm…?" the sleepy detective glanced at the clock on the wall. "…Is that clock broken?"

"No, that's seriously the time."

She froze_. It's almost midnight. It's almost midnight. It's almost 12:00 AM. What does that mean…? _Kahoko's eyes laid on her desk, which had scattered bits of files and papers. She suddenly felt all of the life drain out of her. "Aghhhhhh…"

"That's right, Hino-San. You fell asleep in the middle of your work, and these papers are due first thing in the morning, and it's nearly a new day."

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?!" she pointed a finger at him.

"Seeing an adorable sleeping face on the Crimson Blaze is a one in a million chance." His eyes were playful.

Her face turned the color of her hair, and she yanked onto his tie. "You-"

"Oh, have you finally decided to kiss me?"

She fumbled around with his tie, and quickly sat back in her chair, searching for hand sanitizer in her pockets and desk drawers.

"Haha, how amusing." He sat across her, in the client chair.

"Yunoki, get out of the client chair." She crossed her arms.

"Why? It's just a chair."

"Do you have any mental problems, or psychological issues?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" he blinked.

"I'm not a psychiatrist!" she flicked the papers on her desk upwards, only to sway on to the ground.

He rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing in here anyways?!"

"Maybe I decided to be nice, and offer you a helping hand with the paperwork."

"You? Offer a helping hand to me? Pfft, what a joke." She leaned back in her chair.

He fake smiled at her, but said nothing.

"…"

The two sat in silence for a while.

Kahoko frowned. "Oh god, you're serious."

"Indeed I am."

"What has the world come to…?" she prepared to hide underneath her desk.

"Do you want help, or not?" Azuma tried to hide his annoyance.

"…From you? Never."

"Fine. Don't regret it later." He stood up, and put on his coat, ready to leave.

"Wait!"

"Hm?" he turned.

"Okay, I do need help."

"Can't you ask like a normal person?"

"…Can you please help me, Yunoki?" she looked to the side, embarrassed that THE Hino Kahoko had to ask for help from HIM. Out of all the people in the world, it had to be Yunoki Azuma.

"_Yunoki-Sama_?"

Kahoko's shoe hit his face. "In your dreams!"

He sighed. _At least she asked cutely…_

•

Kahoko yawned, she was extremely tired. It was just past four in the morning. "Are we nearly finished…?"

"About a quarter left." replied Azuma, calmly.

"How are you not…tired?" she looked at him.

"For your information, Miss Hino, I get plenty of sleep, unlike you."

"Well, sorry for being so diligent!" she glared at him.

He sighed. "You really work yourself too hard. You should've chosen an easier career, if this one's too hard for you."

"No way! I've always wanted to become a detective! If this career is too easy for you, then YOU should've chosen a more challenging one!" she pointed at him.

"I simply chose this career because it was my choice."

"Let's face it, you chose it because you copied me."

"Well, you could put it that way…"

"And you admit it!" she flung her arms the air.

"I thought you were sleepy." He replied.

"I am, thanks for the reminder. Good night!" her head hit the desk.

"Need a wake-up call?" he asked.

"Nope…" she was about to doze off.

"How naïve of you. Falling asleep in a room alone with a male. If it's like this, you don't know what I could do to you while you're sle-"

"I'm doing work! I'm working! Paper work! Yes, yes, I'm not sleepy at all!" she flipped through pages frantically.

"Works every time." laughed Azuma.

•

"It's good to see you two are getting along so well." grinned Kanzawa, the head detective.

"This is barely what I'd call getting along well…" groaned Hino, as she finished the last paper.

It was six in the morning, and the two pro detectives hadn't slept at all.

"Anyways, we've finished the papers that were due." Yunoki handed the finished paperwork to their boss, and smiled. "Have a good time checking all of it."

Hiroto sighed, "I really ought to get myself an assistant…" and he walked out of the office.

"I must say, good job Hino-San. You managed to complete all of it in time." The purple haired man turned to face her.

"That's only because you wouldn't let me sleep." She mumbled.

"If I had let you sleep, you would've never finished."

"Ugh…why do you have to be so right all the time?" she collapsed onto the couch.

He shook his head, and let a sigh escape his lips. "You really are hopeless." Yunoki sat next to her, on the couch, and grabbed her head, pulling it towards him.

"Agh! Let go of me, you creep!" she tried to resist him.

"It's a reward for your hard work." Her head lay on his shoulder. "Thank me later."

"!" she blinked, but then closed her eyes. Hino was way too tired to argue with him. "Yeah…thanks."

Azuma wiped some strands of her red hair away from her face. _Kahoko…get as much rest as you can. Because we have another big case arriving at the door, and you have to be prepared for it._

•

"W-What did you just say?!" Kahoko grabbed the perfect man's collar. "Repeat what you just said, Yunoki Azuma!"

He tore her hand away from his 'was neat' shirt, and folded his arms. "I said that you don't need to wait for a case, I've already got one for us."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait…US?"

"Of course."

"Okay, okay, skip to the point!"

"If you recall, in Fuyumi Hotel, we had to agree to a 'condition' for Miss Fuyumi Shouko?"

"Ah…AH…AHHH THAT!" realization hit her. "That's great! That's completely utterly fantastic!" she jumped up in joy. "I don't have to deal with boring cases! I don't have to wait around for an interesting one! There's one right there for me, waiting for ME to solve it! Yes, yes, yes!"

Azuma cleared his throat. "Correction, us."

"Whatever! So, give me the case details!" Kahoko sat on her desk. "I'm ready for anything!"

Yunoki started to explain the basics. "Before our little Shimizu Keiichi case, Miss Fuyumi received a warning note, saying that a thief will steal her most valuable item."

"Eh…a warning note? What an old fashioned way of thievery. Yet, I like it that way." Hino stated. "What's the target?"

"Well, Fuyumi-San thinks that it may be this." Azuma pulled out a picture of a beautiful blue vase. "It's a traditional treasure passed down through the generations. Quite pricey."

"Okay…so we just need to move the vase, safe guard it, and done!" She rolled up her sleeves. "Let's get down to business!"

"Wait."

"What?" she glanced at him.

"We can't move it, it's against one of the family's traditions. And Fuyumi-San had already arranged a dance party to happen on the exact night the thief had planned to steal the vase. This causes a problem, because it raises the number of suspects."

"Then…how are we going to do this…?" Kahoko frowned.

The elegant prince held up a fine golden envelope. "With this."

Kahoko raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"Why, it's a golden envelope."

"No need to state the obvious, Watson." She glared at him.

"Then why don't you tell me what it is, Holmes?"

"You're the one holding it, how would I know?" she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Are you sure you don't know, Geoffrey?" he smirked, amused.

"Okay, stop with the weird names!" she snatched the envelope, and read the contents. "Wait, this is…"

"That's right."

The female detective looked up from the letter. "Yunoki, this letter…"

He placed a fancy mask on his face, hiding his perfect eyes. "We're going to a masquerade."

**-End Of Chapter Nine-**

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Sorry for the short chapter guys...writers block Dx

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


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